text: A 100 dollar meal isn't much of a bribe ... it's the "strokes" that go along with it, which inflates ones sense of importance that sways.  The best salesmen know how to "stroke" their customer to get them to part with their money.  Lobbyists, by the nature of their job, have to be really good salesmen.  In the legislators case, the "strokes" get them to part with valuable legislation.