invisible primary
n.— «The dirty little secret, in what’s called the invisible primary, which is happening now, is that at least in 1996, 2000 and 2004, the candidate that had the most money in October was the one that won.» —“Presidential candidates stumping early in N.H.” by William Schper in Dartmouth College The Dartmouth (Hanover, New Hampshire) Feb. 22, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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