During the money primary candidates raise funds for the upcoming primary elections and attempt to garner support of political leaders and donors, as well as the party establishment.
Fund raising numbers and opinion polls are used by the media to predict who the front runners for the nomination are.
On the other hand, members of the party establishment who find themselves losing the invisible primary, such as Mitt Romney in the 2016 race, may abandon hope of successfully running.
In contrast to the smoke-filled room where a small group of party-leaders might at the last minute, in a small meeting room at a political convention, determine the candidate,[2][3][4] the invisible primary refers to the period of jockeying which precedes the first primaries and caucuses and even campaign announcements.
The winners of the invisible primary, such as Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush[5] in 2016, come into the first primaries and caucuses with a full war chest of money, support from office holders, and an aura of inevitability.