YOU ARE HERE: LAT HomeCollectionsFinances  In Philadelphia, it's
get out the money  The Nation  Candidates usually pay their foot
soldiers -- a tradition that could cost Obama support.  April
11, 2008|Peter Nicholas | Times Staff Writer   The dispute
centers on the dispensing of "street money," a long-standing
Philadelphia ritual in which candidates deliver cash to the
city's Democratic operatives in return for getting out the vote.
Flush with payments from well-funded campaigns, the ward leaders
and Democratic Party bosses typically spread out the cash in the
days before the election, handing $10, $20 and $50 bills to the
foot soldiers and loyalists who make up the party's workforce.
It is all legal -- but Obama's people are telling the local
bosses he won't pay.  That sets up a culture clash, pitting a
candidate who promises to transform American politics against
the realities of a local political system important to his
presidential hopes. Pennsylvania holds its primary April 22.
"We've heard directly