WASHINGTON -- Hillary Clinton wants to get as close as possible to Michael Phelps and Simone Biles. So shes spending more than $13 million on political ads at the Olympics -- while Donald Trump is sitting on the sidelines.The Democratic presidential nominee is taking advantage of the millions of Americans tuned in to watch the champion swimmer and gymnast, as well as other U.S. athletes, rack up medals during the Summer Games in Rio. Republican Trump, meanwhile, hasnt aired a single general election ad yet -- a decision that baffles some political strategists.Id love to know what theyre waiting for, said Will Ritter, a Republican ad maker and veteran of Mitt Romneys presidential bids. Trumps avoidance of political norms such as advertising cannot survive the professionalized deconstruction that Hillary is doing every day, he said.Clintons multimillion-dollar investment meant that across the U.S. viewers, captivated by coverage of top events like swimming and womens gymnastics, saw her commercials in prime time each of the past three nights, Kantar Medias political advertising tracker shows.During the three weeks of Olympics coverage, her campaign is spending $8 million on the national NBC network, $1.1 million more on affiliated cable channels Bravo, USA and MSNBC and $4.5 million on local affiliates in key presidential battleground states such as Florida, according to the tracker.Sundays Olympics ratings for NBC averaged 29.8 million viewers -- a very significant audience.While Trumps campaign has requested advertising rates from stations in key states, including Florida, the Olympics are slipping beyond his reach.One Clinton ad in heavy rotation is an awkward clip from his appearance on David Lettermans former late-night show. The host holds up Trump shirts and ties and points out that they were made in Bangladesh and China, not America. Trump smiles sheepishly.The Clinton campaign also is airing a new ad about her economic plan, which a narrator says would create millions of new jobs.Her commercials caught viewers nationwide who tuned in Saturday for the U.S. mens water polo match against Croatia, and those who watched rowing, beach volleyball and road cycling on Sunday.In addition to the nationwide spots, Clintons Olympics-targeted ads aired on local television during Fridays lengthy opening ceremony in battleground states such as Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Iowa.NBC sold its Olympics advertising in packages -- most of which were locked down months ago, said Ben Angle, a senior media buyer at National Media who isnt connected to the 2016 presidential race. The higher the spending, the more likely the ads are to land in premium slots, such as the prime time marquee competitions.At a rally in New Hampshire over the weekend, Trump bragged about how he has spent nothing on ads as Clinton has made a major outlay.Its a little early to spend, Trump said. You know its like the racehorse, right? Hangs back, hangs back, hangs back. And I think weve got some pretty good ads. But we dont want to go too fast.But the imbalance is a striking change from four years ago, when then-cash-strapped Romney and his allies scrounged up an estimated $18 million to match what President Barack Obama was spending to advertise during the three weeks of the London Games, according to Kantar Media.Clinton is following Obamas Olympics playbook. The president debuted several commercials during the games in 2012, a mix of positive messages about his presidency and contrasts with Romney.While Romney and his allies also focused on the London Games, the GOP nominating convention was still weeks away, putting money he raised for his general election campaign out of reach.A pro-Romney super political action committee, Restore Our Future, did air an ad featuring Olympic athletes talking about his business sense. After all, he was tapped to run the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games, the first after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.We made the determination the Olympics offered a large captive audience who werent channel surfing, former Restore Our Future leader Carl Forti said. And in the case of Mitt Romney, we had a candidate who turned around the Salt Lake Olympics and had a unique story to tell.There are a few pro-Trump groups doing a relatively minor amount of advertising.Rebuilding America Now is spending about $2 million in the first three weeks of this month, but has nothing on the national NBC network. Its spending is concentrated on national cable and in four states: Florida, Ohio, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, Kantar Media shows.---Associated Press writers Jill Colvin, Steve Peoples and David Bauder contributed to this report.---Keep track on how much Clinton and Trump are spending on television advertising, and where theyre spending it, via APs interactive ad tracker. http://elections.ap.org/content/ad-spending---Follow Julie Bykowicz on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/bykowiczWholesale Nike Shoes UK . 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Colin Wilson had two goals and an assist, and Mike Fisher scored a goal and helped set up two others in the Predators 6-4 victory over the Red Wings on Monday night.If Angelique Kerber is the type of thoughtful person who still writes thank-you notes, she probably has one in the mail right now to Serena Williams.Williams, the No. 2-ranked woman tennis player in the world (it still seems strange to read that, right?), basically handed No. 1 Kerber the year-end No. 1 ranking for 2016 when Williams declared that she was pulling out of the critical tournaments in Wuhan and Beijing.The decision torpedoed the scenario that both the ATP and WTA dreamed about when they created their tours and year-end championships: a battle for the top ranking that goes down to the wire, long after the last ball in Grand Slam tournament play is called out.I am disappointed that I will not be able to compete at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open or the China Open due to continuing issues with my right shoulder, Williams said in a statement published on the WTA website last Friday. I have been practicing and playing but my shoulder is still not fit for tournament play. ... I am focused on getting ready to compete at the WTA Finals in Singapore.Problem: Kerber already leads Williams in the rankings by more points than the challenger could earn by winning Singapore. True, Kerber will be defending 1,215 points she earned last fall, but keep in mind she didnt win a single title and had a terrible WTA championships, which means there is a more than likely chance she will build on her lead over Williams.Williams obviously feels no need to put the Kerber genie back in the bottle. Williams has her own priorities, which clearly do not include finishing the year ranked No. 1. That might explain why she declared the subject off limits as Kerber closed on the top spot through the summer. It might not be as baffling a position as it appears. Williams shares the record (men and women) for more Grand Slam titles (22) in the Open era with Steffi Graf. Those two also hold the record for most consecutive weeks at No. 1 (186).Williams is 35 and shes been No. 1 for 309 cumulative weeks (good for No. 3 on the all-time list headed by Graf, then Martina Navratilova). Williams haas been the year-end No.dddddddddddd 1 five times. Adding another year to that count doesnt seem nearly as succulent a goal as bagging another major to surpass Graf.Finishing No. 1 for 2016 certainly wouldnt be worth the price if it left her unfit for the new year.Williams abdication might be disappointing, but theres evidence that shes offering delayed gratification in the form of a big, new push in 2017. In what might have been a rare moment of transparency last week, she told CNN, Im tired of playing tournaments unhealthy and taking losses that I would never lose.If Williams already has vengeful eyes riveted on 2017, Singapore becomes more of a question mark. Williams played no tennis after the US Open last year but nevertheless went on to reach the Australian Open final. Would she spurn the WTA Championships for two years in a row? Williams might be obliged to show up, but she cant be forced to train hard or arrive ready to play at full capacity. We wont be able to take the true measure of Williams until next January.Its almost impossible to see Williams going into the Australian Open as the No. 1 seed. She will be seen through different eyes in the locker room. She will know a different form of pressure at a time in her career when she seems to forget far too often how she became dominant. Williams might be great theater these days, but some still prefer the lethal, steely-eyed player who once struck fear in the heart of every opponent without a single shriek, clenched fist or shout of, Come on!After Australia, Williams went on to reach the French Open final and won Wimbledon. She closed out the season with a surprising semifinal loss to Karolina Pliskova. That setback reminded us that in many ways, Williams has become a suffering champion, which has brought her unprecedented attention.Now she must prove the rumors of her latest demise have been greatly exaggerated and that she has one last run in her. Call it: Serenas Last Stand. ' ' '