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Convention Notebook: Hutchinson, son to open new law practice Thursday, Sep 4, 2008 By Aaron Sadler Stephens Washington Bureau ST. PAUL, Minn. - Former Rep. Asa Hutchinson said Wednesday he is returning to northwest Arkansas to open a law practice with his son. Hutchinson and Asa Hutchinson III will operate out of the World Trade Center in Rogers, said the elder Hutchinson, in St. Paul this week for the Republican National Convention. The firm will have another office in Little Rock. Hutchinson is leaving his job with Venable LLP, a Washington firm. "When I ran for governor, I said you could run the world from Arkansas, so surely I can run a national law practice from Arkansas," he said. Hutchinson has split time between Washington and his homeland security consulting firm in Little Rock since his loss to Mike Beebe in the 2006 gubernatorial election. Hutchinson is a northwest Arkansas native. He resigned his 3rd District congressional seat in 2001 to take over the Drug Enforcement Administration. He's also been an undersecretary in the Department of Homeland Security. Hutchinson wouldn't say whether he has his sights on another run for office or a position in a John McCain administration. "I'm really seriously practicing law," he said. " ... That's occupied my focus and energy. I've got a new business I've started." Hutchinson has had a full schedule in St. Paul. He has conducted interviews as a surrogate for the McCain campaign and been the featured speaker at several state delegation meetings. He addressed the Minnesota and Missouri delegations already. Hutchinson will meet with Alabama delegates on Thursday. Conway factory makes convention seats The 2,600 delegates to the Republican National Convention are pretty well associated by now with the products of a Conway company. The Virco Manufacturing Corp., made the chairs the Republicans have been parked in for three days. To be precise, they've been sitting in the 198-G convention center model. It's the third consecutive Republican convention that the Arkansas plant has produced the chairs. The company's vice president for marketing said workers look forward to catching a glimpse of the chairs they've manufactured manufacture when the convention airs on television. "We take great pride in that, absolutely, whether it's the Republican convention or if it's Democrats sitting in our chairs," said Randy Smith of Virco. "A lot of times, we will see Virco products even on sitcoms or soap operas. We've seen a lot of that." Virco employs 1,100 people in Conway and has been in operation there since 1952. The chairs for the convention are the fifth generation of a special seat designed for convention centers and arenas, Smith said. "They like it. It's comfortable," he added. "I think that's why we've done this the last three Republican conventions." No Norris this week Mike Huckabee is without his campaign sidekick Chuck Norris this week. Norris is not among the dozens of celebrities in the Twin Cities for the convention, even though he and Huckabee were nearly inseparable on the campaign trail. Norris endorsed Huckabee's presidential bid late last year and then joined the former Arkansas governor to campaign in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Huckabee joked that he would make the action star his secretary of defense if elected. Maybe Norris is upset that Huckabee lost the nomination. If so, maybe it's a good thing for John McCain that the man's not in St. Paul. Norris told reporters last November he could never be a politician because he'd likely put his opponent in a choke hold. |
