Why Donald Trump is Airing Radio Ads

Donald Trump has gone up with his first ads of the cycle, announcing he’s spending $300,000 on radio ads through the end of the month. Trump claims he’s budgeted $20 million, but until now he hasn’t spent anything. The decision to go on air reflects the increasing threat to his candidacy from Ben Carson, who has tied or surpassed him in recent polls.

Fox Business Network is set to reveal which candidates will make next week’s debate stage this evening at 7 p.m. using the four most recent polls that meet the network’s unstated criteria through yesterday. It appears that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is likely to be bumped from the prime-time debate stage to the undercard debate, as his polling average has fallen below the required 2.5 percent. It comes at a particularly inopportune time for him, as his campaign was just picking up steam off coverage of his work on drug addiction and strong debate performances. Additionally, depending on the polls used, Bobby Jindal and/or George Pataki appear likely to be banished from both debate stages altogether for failing to hit at least 1% in one of the four polls,

Bernie Sanders is preparing to go negative on Hillary Clinton, after appearing to defend her over her use of a private email server in the first Democratic debate last month. Now he says the scrutiny of it is fair game, as he looks for a way to prevent the Democratic front-runner from running away with the nomination.

Former President George H.W. Bush has some choice words for George W. Bush‘s former aides, as Jeb Bush continues his campaign reboot tour. Clinton highlights her ties to Israel. How Marco Rubio is following Barack Obama‘s path to the White House. And what Trump’s legal fight over his eponymous “university” says about his potential administration.

Here are your must-reads:

Must Reads

All Aboard The Jeb Reboot
Trading footnotes for profanity Bush tries another reset. But this one is personal [TIME]

What the Legal Battle Over Trump University Reveals About Its Founder
Steven Brill goes inside the litigation in this week’s TIME Magazine

How Rubio Is Rising Like a ‘GOP Obama’
TIME’s Michael Scherer on how talent is beating out experience in 2016

Ben Carson’s Winning Everyone Over By Focusing On Evangelicals
The neurosurgeon talks heavily about faith and is clearly positioning himself as a candidate for the socially conservative. [BuzzFeed]

What Tuesday’s Elections Tell Us About 2016
Campaigning against Obamacare is good politics for Republicans, governing without it could be trickier, TIME’s Philip Elliott writes

How the GOP Tormenting Jeb Took Shape During His Father’s Presidency
The candidate is bedeviled by a party drawn to extremes, Jon Meacham writes for TIME

Sound Off

“I want to offer him a Cabinet post so he doesn’t play anymore … And Belichick too”— Miami Dolphins fan Marco Rubio in New Hampshire Wednesday on Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski

“The pyramids were made in a way that they had hermetically sealed compartments … You would need that if you were trying to preserve grain for a long period of time.” — Ben Carson to CBS, reaffirming his belief that the pyramids were built for grain storage, not the burial of pharaohs

Bits and Bites

See Donald Trump on SNL Over the Years [TIME]

Off-Year Elections Reveal a 2016 Map With Sharper Borders [Washington Post]

Bernie Sanders Takes Gloves Off Against Hillary Clinton in Interview [Wall Street Journal]

Elder Bush Says His Son Was Served Badly by Aides [New York Times]

Obama Administration Releases Text of Pacific Rim Free-Trade Accord [Washington Post]

A Tale of Two Carsons [CNN]

Marco Rubio Says He’ll Release New Credit Card Records ‘In the Next Few Weeks’ [Washington Post]

California Governor Had State Workers Research Oil on Ranch [Associated Press]

Trump Courted Mega-Donors he Now Scorns [Politico]

Hillary Clinton: How I Would Reaffirm Unbreakable Bond With Israel — and Benjamin Netanyahu [Forward]

How ‘Blue Zone’ GOP Could Veto a Conservative Nominee [Cook Political Report]