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street money

street money
 n.— «Street money is the name for cash given to party committeemen and women who hand out literature and drum up the vote on primary and election days. It comes from the candidates and is dispensed to the party’s 69 ward leaders who, in turn, dole it out to the city’s more than 3,000 committeemen. In Philadelphia, it is a mandatory fee for most Democratic candidates.» —“Cash and Carry (the City)” by Tom Ferrick Jr. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania New York Times Apr. 22, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

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