That was Dick’s beginning of willingness to work for candidates and issues in an unpopular environment.

That first campaign staff position was unpaid in a mayoral race. Dick's actual first paid hire was to swing delegates in a contest between two candidates for party endorsement to run for a congressional seat, where both candidates were well known public figures.

All the elections Dick has worked on have been inside Minnesota. Very often his assistance is background, not out front. Others do the outfront or production or representation with what Dick advises or creates. In some cases it is for a PAC. Sometimes for an individual supporter of a candidate who mounts his own backing – or opposition – of a candidate or ballot issue. You would be surprised how often individuals, on their own, want to influence a vote. An individual exercising his/her American right, as an individual, does not fall under the disclosure laws/rules applied to groups/PACs or campaigns.

In his personal political life Dick has often been a political party delegate to local, state and congressional conventions and has chaired for both precincts and city organizations. such continues today, as his personal, not business, political expression. Dick Novack has never and does never intend to run for political office himself. He has known and enjoys working with persons of all levels from city and school board to those at the state capitol - including a few governors, a couple congressmen, and senators.

Dick Novack is a strong advocate for ethics in politics. His name quoted in citing both a major precident setting decision and a minor one.

That all works because providing experienced campaign knowledge is often very important to candidates without such knowledge themselves.

Similarly he has worked on both passing and killing referenda votes.

Dick can help with literature, targeted mailings, videos, social networking, database management, block-walking, advertising (even having billboard knowledge), and appropriate websites which, if the persons wish, can be housed on servers owned or controlled by Dick.

Dick can also setup and/or manage your social media such as Facebook andTwitter. More important, most modern elections should use Google and Facebook targeted ads!

It usually works this way. Dick does not actively become involved in the campaign itself. He provides consulting advice and services that, usually, others in the campaign actually implement. While no stranger to public speaking, nor getting involved in controversy, it works best if the volunteers, staff and candidate implement on behalf of the campaign. If negative effort is needed, it is often better done in the names of other individuals. Political Consultants such as Dick Novack should not become the focus of attention - that focus needs to be on the candidate (issue) or the opposing side. To that end, Dick can help persons on the campaign with utilizing social media to sway opinions.

And, swaying opinons is what it is all about.

That answer is complicated. Partially because Dick Novack has his own political beliefs as an old-fashioned Moderate Republican, and who, in fact, heads a PAC with a goal of restoring moderation and cooperation to politics. To that end he remains active in the Republican Party. But he, like most people, will only volunteer for candidates he personally believes in.

When it comes to business, he will accept candidates and issues of any kind as long as that candidate is NOT OPPOSING someone he is personally supporting or already hired to support – or – when the candidate he is to help does NOT have radical views opposed to Dick Novack’s views.

There is always disagreement on policy and positions. No one has ever met a candidate with whom they agree on every subject – unless perhaps they are married to that candidate (just kidding). What one does is agree-to-disagree on various items but agree on the general good - the same as a good politician/statesman does in his/her job.

Campaign law absolutely lets one work for multiple candidates and entities at the same time, even while at the same time one engages in such political action personally.

The requirement in law is that you keep each separate in terms of resources and that one does not collude to work together.

No one can partition their brain, but they can partition resources and production. A simple example is your local printer often will print literature, make lawn-signs and even do the mailings for multiple and competing candidates and parties. Designers, design companies, public relations firms, graphic artists, speech writers, all may produce literature, speeches or handle events for persons who turn out to be opponents.

In Minnesota the Senate and House Caucus organizations of both parties produce all kinds of things for their members and even for the party – but have to strictly observe keeping separate the resources.

It may be nice to use a picture from a campaign in a PAC ad, for example, but unless that picture is public domain – perhaps Googleable on the internet for anyone to use – or perhaps for sale by a photo source – then you can’t use it, even if it is nicely ready on your computer.

Therefore it is not unusual to deliberately have the SAME picture or text emailed by both a candidate and a PAC to someone providing a political service for the service to use in each of the respective ads. The ads may end up looking like they were in collusion but legally they were not because the material was sourced separately. This is how most such advertising and campaign efforts are produced. 2013 Minnesota cases tightened the understanding that there may not be cross-working regarding policy, or cooperation in providing either materials or opportunity for materials, or the same person/team on what could be considered the same election, etc.

When it comes to an “individual”, including a person employed as a political consultant, engaging in their private life within political circles, most anything can be done. Individual free speech opens up a lot that campaigns cannot do. Individuals can employ specialists and consultants to do their election opinion work. They do not have to do it themselves.

Whether inside a campaign effort or advising those who want to intervene in a campaign or whether he does it in his personal political life - Dick works within the law and the spirit of the law. It is that simple.