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Rep. Ron Paul, the libertarian iconoclast, and Mitt Romney, the establishment favorite, are hardly bosom buddies. So why is the Texas congressman defending the former governor of Massachusetts over a quote that other Republican candidates (and Democrats) are taking wildly out of context?

Simple: Representative Paul wants to come in second in the New Hampshire primary.

Mr. Romney is expected to win the Granite State going away. So the big news Tuesday night will be who wins the silver. Duking it out for second place are Paul and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman. Mr. Huntsman, in particular, has been going after Romney for saying that he 鈥渓ikes to fire people.鈥� But Romney didn鈥檛 really say that.

Here鈥檚 what Romney actually said, in context: 鈥淚 want individuals to have their own [health] insurance. That means the insurance company will have an incentive to keep you healthy. It also means if you don鈥檛 like what they do, you can fire them. I like being able to fire people who provide services to me.... You know, if someone doesn鈥檛 give me a good service, then I want to say, 鈥業鈥檓 going to go get someone else to provide that service to me.鈥欌��

At 3:15 on Tuesday afternoon, with just a few hours until the New Hampshire polls close, the Paul campaign put out a statement on what it called a 鈥渇eigned controversy.鈥� In addition to Huntsman, it rapped the knuckles of former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich for good measure.

Oh and by the way, Paul isn鈥檛 such a big fan of Romney after all. He just wants to see him treated fairly.

鈥�Rick Santorum, Jon Huntsman, and Newt Gingrich are once again proving why they are unfit to be President and why this has become a two man national race between Mitt Romney, the candidate of the status quo, and Ron Paul, the candidate of real change,鈥� national campaign chairman Jesse Benton said in the statement.

鈥淭wo important issues that should unite Republicans are a belief in free markets and an understanding that the media often use 鈥榞otcha鈥� tactics to discredit us,鈥� the statement continued. 鈥淩ather than run against Governor Romney on the issues of the day Santorum, Huntsman, and Gingrich have chosen to play along with the media elites and exploit a quote taken horribly out of context.鈥�

Mr. Benton also turned his sights on the 鈥渓iberal left,鈥� accusing the other candidates of adopting its tactics to take down another Republican.

Huntsman, Mr. Santorum, and Mr. Gingrich are doing so, Benton said, 鈥渂ecause they can't run on their questionable records and can't distinguish themselves from Romney.鈥�

Ford O鈥機onnell, a Republican strategist who is neutral in the nomination race, says that Paul鈥檚 goal of placing second in New Hampshire is all about maintaining momentum heading into the contests in South Carolina and Florida 鈥� both states where he is losing ground in polls.

鈥淚f someone other than Ron Paul captures second place (i.e., Huntsman), Paul will almost completely fade from the GOP conversation,鈥� says Mr. O鈥機onnell in an e-mail. 鈥淔or Paul, it is mostly about staying relevant.鈥�