Vote-08 has confirmed through NewsChannel 9 National Sales Director Mike Hood that Hillary Clinton is about to get some company on the NewsChannel 9 airwaves. She has stood alone since last week when Barack Obama pulled his ads.

Now Hood says Clinton’s ads will continue to air through next Monday (Super Tuesday eve), and John Edwards ads will start airing beginning this Thursday. Remember, the latest Tennessee poll shows Edwards doing better on this side of the state, so it makes sense for his campaign to try to increase his vote count.

Where are the Republican candidates? Finally one steps up to the plate. Hood says the Mike Huckabee campaign is planning to purchase ads to air starting either Friday or over the weekend.

p.s. The Ron Paul campaign sent us an e-mail about an ad “airing in Arkansas & Tennesse” (which to me hints it’s the Memphis market) but the Paul campaign has (so far) not bought any airtime on NewsChannel 9.

As I referred to in yesterday’s post, Ron Paul won our latest NewsChannel9.com web poll among Republican candidates, winning with 26% of the votes in the unscientific poll.

So now that he’s out of the race, Chattanooga-based Ron Paul supporters say they welcome all of Tennessee’s FredHeads.

Daniel Appelget, assistant organizer of the Chattanooga Ron Paul meetup group, wants Thompson supporters to take a look at Paul’s record. Here’s an excerpt:

“…both oppose amnesty, and both agree that open borders mean the end of sovereignty in America. Both also agree that the welfare system should be overthrown….both believe in tracking down those responsible for 9/11 and bringing them to justice. Both believe that wars must be fought to win, not in a slow police action manner that drains funds and costs lives….Thompson and Paul have also agreed on many economic issues, such as balancing the budget. They have both advocated the need for better monetary policy and the need to cut back on wasteful government spending. On education, both Thompson and Paul agree parents should have the final say, not federal bureaucracies.”

This Friday, Paul supporters open the first-for-Campaign ‘08 office of a Presidential candidate in the NewsChannel 9 viewing area, in Cleveland. Paul supporters want you to attend the opening Friday night at 5:30 at the office at 3525 Keith Street.

There’s no doubt that supporters of Ron Paul are the most passionate of the campaign season. They’re also the group of supporters most at ease using alternative media such as the internet. But they have to face the fact that Paul is still not gaining the traction among voters nationally they would have liked to see at this point in the primary season. Why is that? Post a comment and tell us! And if you were all ready to vote for Fred Thompson, why will or why won’t Ron Paul get your vote? Let us know!

And don’t forget to check out this post from earlier today which has a link to a story that makes the case Fred could still win the nomination.

UPDATE: Mike Huckabee’s local supporters also have Thompson supporters in their sights. This Saturday at 10 a.m. they want to convince you Huckabee’s your new candidate at the Country Place Restaurant at 7320 Shallowford Road.