Also known as the Invisible Primary, the Money Primary is the period of time between the first candidates announcing their intention to run for president and the first primary. The Money Primary allows candidates to raise funds for the upcoming primary elections and to garner public support. The fund raising numbers and opinion polls are used by the media to predict who the front runners for the nomination are. This is seen as a crucial stage of a campaign for the presidency, as candidates who raise the most money are going to appear the strongest, and as a result will be able to raise even more money from those donors who are seeking to engage in pork barrelling.