Asa Hutchinson says he wants to outperform Vivek Ramaswamy in the Iowa Caucuses

Republican Presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson says he plans to "beat" expectations and wants to outperform Vivek Ramaswamy in the Iowa Caucuses.

About 25 people attended Hutchinson's meet-and-greet event Wednesday night at Confluence Brewing Co. in Des Moines, including students from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. The stop kicks off Hutchinson's Return to Normal tour, with plans to visit 30 Iowa cities until caucus day on Jan. 15. The tour name, Hutchinson says, is reflective of his campaign: "Iowa understands normal," he tweeted on Dec. 28.

During the event, an audience member reminded Hutchinson of a conversation they had where the former Arkansas governor told him he wanted to be ahead of Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur, in the Iowa Caucuses. The audience member then asked Hutchinson if it was still a possibility.

"I want to beat as many as I can in the Iowa Caucuses," Hutchinson replied. "And yes, I think I should be able to beat Ramaswamy here in Iowa, that's important. One, his ideas are bad. And secondly, we've competed hard, we've got the predictions there ... to be a better president, so I expect to win.

"Certainly, Chris Christie, he hasn't campaigned in Iowa, but he's somebody that shouldn't get any delegates out of here. And so yes, I want to win, I want to be able to even do better than that, hopefully," he added.

More: Asa Hutchinson is polling at 1% in Iowa. He says he's still in the race to the caucus.

Hutchinson, who announced his candidacy for the presidency in late April, has spent the better part of the year campaigning in Iowa and early primary states like New Hampshire and South Carolina. Since then, Hutchinson has stopped in more than 40 Iowa cities, according to the Des Moines Register's candidate tracker. His campaign says he's been to more places in Iowa — 80 cities — though that includes some unplanned stops.

Overshadowed by dominating presences such as former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Hutchinson's campaign has largely flown under the radar, with events often topping out at a dozen people. And even as the GOP field has continued to narrow, he has been unable to steer prospective voters in his direction.

A December Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll showed Hutchinson polling at 1% — leagues behind Trump, whose support now sits at 51% among likely Republican caucusgoers, up from 43% in October; DeSantis, at 19%; and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, at 16%.

But Hutchinson, who has often shrugged off polls, has been banking on a long-haul strategy, with immediate sights set on Iowa. With eight candidates who've dropped out — most recently North Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former Vice President Mike Pence and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum — Hutchinson calls himself the "wild card" in the race.

"No one can predict what's going to happen next year," he said Wednesday. "Just the fact that I'm in the race, I think I can make the case that I'm the wild card in this race. And so I can sort of analyze the other candidates and, you know, they might be up, they might be down, but we are in the race and I think people know that we intend to last."

Hutchinson previously told the Register that candidates who are serious about running for president should also be on ballots for Super Tuesday and beyond. He has qualified for ballots in a dozen states, including Florida, New Hampshire and Michigan, according to campaign manager Alison Williams.

Cheryl Musser of Des Moines, who attended her first meet and greet for any candidate this cycle, told the Register that Hutchinson is the only candidate she has "any interest in."

"I go along with what he is saying and I think he's truthful and he has courage to speak out as far as ... Trump, and I think the presidency needs someone with courage and I don't see courage in the other candidates," Musser said.

Musser says she has switched her party affiliation multiple times over the years between Republican and Democrat. Currently, she's a registered Democrat in Iowa. While President Joe Biden is high on her approval rating, she said she wanted to make sure she evaluates all the candidates.

"I think Governor Hutchinson would probably be the only Republican I would even consider if I was to vote Republican," Musser said. "In this case, the reason I would switch and caucus would be for the governor because I feel he is the only one who's qualified, the only one who's normal, the only one that I think will stand for truth, and that is what I feel is the most important qualities."

In an audience question on Wednesday about how he would break through the "noise" of the remaining candidates, Hutchinson said he was the only candidate who's campaigned in Iowa who hasn't promised to pardon Trump amid the former president's ongoing legal battles. When asked if he would vote for him, he responded: "If he's a convicted felon, I'm certainly not going to vote for him."

He also predicted DeSantis could be the "next one to drop out."

Later, he told reporters that a candidate's success in the caucuses should be gauged by factors like expectations based on early polling and how much money they've spent on their campaign.

"I expect that we're going to beat expectations, we'll probably define those later," he said. "I have them in mind but that's how the media should measure it. And I joke that we've intentionally kept expectations low here in Iowa so we can outperform those."

Virginia Barreda is the Des Moines city government reporter for the Register. She can be reached at vbarreda@dmreg.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @vbarreda2.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Asa Hutchinson aims to beat Vivek Ramaswamy in the Iowa Caucuses