a crushing defeat
解散をすれば「大敗」が確実視されている野田第3次改造内閣が発足しました。
crushingは「押しつぶす」のほかに「圧倒的な、決定的な」という意味があります。念のため。（GP）
Noda to revamp Cabinet, Maehara to be national policy minister
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will appoint Seiji Maehara, an outspoken former foreign minister, as national policy minister when he reshuffles his Cabinet on Monday, with the hope of bolstering waning public support for his year-old government.
As Noda's ruling party is at risk of suffering a crushing defeat in the next general election to be held within a year, he has also decided to appoint Makiko Tanaka, another former foreign minister who used to enjoy great public popularity for her sharp tongue, as education minister, sources close to the premier said.
Koriki Jojima, who was chief of Diet affairs in Noda's Democratic Party of Japan, will become finance minister, the sources said.
