U.S. Rep. Ron Paul told supporters at a house party in Merrimack that he best place in second or third in New Hampshire and Iowa to make continuing on in the election cycle worthwhile.

"If we put the investment in and the time, I mean, if you go to the far extreme, say fifth or something, I think in reality it would be really tough to go on," Paul, the Congressman from Texas said at the home of Aaron and Jenny Walker. "Raising money and the odds of doing well after that would be really difficult. Doing well here to keep going doesn't mean you have to win Iowa and New Hampshire but you certainly better be second and third." Paul has consistently been polling in either second or third place in New Hampshire.

In the most recent poll conducted by WMUR and the University of New Hampshire, Paul polled third at 12 percent. Romney lead with 42 percent and Gingrich held the support of 15 percent polled. What works in his favor, Paul said to the crowd of about 50 gathered at the Walkers' home, is that his supporters are loyal. Throughout the primary there have been peaks and valleys for several candidates including Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry and Herman Cain. The man garnering buzz most recently has been Newt Gingrich, following last Sunday's New Hampshire Union Leader endorsement.

Paul said candidates have risen and fallen, but his campaign has not experienced that, and he doesn't expect it will. "The one thing that we feel good about is when we do get supporters, they're not flip-floppers," Paul said to laughter from the crowd. "They're enthusiastic."

Paul said he feels comfortable in New Hampshire, because he believes he has the support of a lot of Independents, and they make up a large group of the voters.

"If you do polling with independents, I'm pretty sure I come out the best on Independents because I take an independent stand on this," Paul said. "I'm concerned about civil liberties, I'm concerned about those expenditures overseas and really having cuts, so this is an appeal to Independents.

Paul has said he expects Independent voters to give him a boost on Jan. 10.

"I think it's possible," Dante Scala told Patch earlier this week on how much of an impact independent voters could have on Paul's bid. Scala is a University of New Hampshire political science professor.