Inside the Beltway: Hillary Clinton talks terrorism, then goes off to fundraise

NEWS AND OPINION:

It was one of those big speeches, with all the flamboyant trimmings. Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton delivered just that in San Francisco on Wednesday, emphasizing her prowess in counterterrorism, and faulting her Republicans rivals Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz. Some remain unimpressed.

“Just watched Hillary deliver a prepackaged speech on terror. She’s been in office fighting terror for 20 years — and look where we are,” tweeted Mr. Trump in the aftermath.

“Hillary Clinton can’t have it both ways — bragging about her experience as Secretary of State while refusing to take responsibility for the proliferation of chaos and terrorism across the globe on her watch. Hillary boasts of having ’steady hands’ on the tiller — so what? So did the captain of the Titanic,” says Steven Law, president and CEO of American Crossroads, a liberty-minded nonprofit focused on limited government and national defense.

But money calls too: Interesting to note Mrs. Clinton also appeared at two private fundraisers in California on Wednesday, with two to follow on Thursday. Single ticket prices range from $1,000 to $50,000.

FOR THE LEXICON

“The virtues of unpredictability”

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— A strategy to use against the Islamic State, as outlined by Republican front-runner Donald Trump to Bloomberg Politics team Mark Halperin and John Heilemann. “The fact is, we need unpredictability” Mr. Trump said, adding, “The enemy is watching and I have a very good chance of winning and I frankly don’t want the enemy to know how I’m thinking.”

Mr. Trump also does not have much confidence in Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, noting, “I think I’m much more competent than she is, and I think she’s been very weak. I’ve said it before, I don’t think she has the strength or the stamina to be a good president.”

LET’S CALL IT A DAY

“How do you tell the greatest political talent of his generation that he’s lost his stuff? I’m not sure how, but somebody might want to deliver that news to Bill Clinton. While many thought that he would be an effective surrogate for his wife in this election, since he’s still popular and he’s a walking reminder of how good things were in the 1990s, Bill only makes news when he says something he’d like to take back, as he did on Monday when he seemed to decry the ’awful legacy’ of the last seven years,” writes Paul Waldman, a writer for American Prospect and contributor to The Week.

The former president was referring to the Obama administration during a campaign speech earlier this week.

“Of course, ’Bill Clinton attacks Barack Obama’ is always going to be news, even if it means remarks will be taken out of context to prove the point. ’Bill Clinton gives forgettable speech, says nothing controversial’ isn’t going to make it into your local paper,” Mr. Waldman continues. “But the question for Hillary Clinton isn’t whether the media will treat Bill fairly, it’s whether, given whatever unfairness he might be subject to, it’s still worth it to have him out campaigning for her. And one has to wonder whether the day when it isn’t has arrived.”

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SEE ALSO: Donald Trump’s Arizona win gives Ted Cruz slim GOP nomination chance

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INSIDE THE PRESIDENTIAL WALLET

Yes, they have salaries. Analysts from 24/7WallStreet.com went over annual compensation figures for current leaders of the world’s wealthiest nations to figure out their salaries, expressed in U.S. dollars converted from country of origin currencies as of March 18.

In first place: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who gets $1.76 million a year. In second place it’s Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying ($576,000) — followed by Swiss President Johann N. Schneider-Ammann ($460,000); President Barack Obama ($400,000); Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull ($396,000); Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann ($343,000); Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel ($255,000); Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ($253,000); German Chancellor Angela Merkel ($244,000) and Belgium Prime Minister Charles Michel ($239,000).

“Leaders of absolute monarchies and of a number of constitutional monarchies are generally among the wealthiest people on the planet. However, they were excluded from this list because incomes of sultans, emirs, and kings are frequently unavailable,” notes Thomas Frohlich, who covers employment for the site.

NOW THERE’S A THOUGHT

Hollywood is making news by tapping into faith-based feature films with uplifting messages — including an upcoming remake of the classic “Ben Hur.” But Christian audiences are very particular about one aspect of it all. “Taking liberties with scripture is a sure path to failure with this audience,” says T.L. Stanley, who is analyzing the emerging market for AdWeek.

“Consumers have become more discerning, and they won’t just support anything that’s touted as faith-and-family values. You have to be authentic, and you have to get through the suspicion. Hollywood has found that marketing God isn’t as easy as they thought it would be,” independent filmmaker Dave Johnson told the publication.

POLL DU JOUR

• 43 percent of registered Republican voters would like to see Donald Trump win the party nomination for president; 47 percent of tea partyers, 45 percent of evangelicals, 42 percent of “very conservative,” 40 percent of moderates, 45 percent of men, 40 percent of women, 38 percent of those 18-44 years, 44 percent of those 45-64 and 47 percent of those over 65 agree.

• 29 percent of Republican voters overall would like to see Sen. Ted Cruz win the nomination; 46 percent of tea partyers, 35 percent of evangelicals, 47 percent of “very conservative,” 17 percent of moderates, 29 percent of men, 28 percent of women, 31 percent of those 18-44 years, 30 percent of those 45-64 and 23 percent of those over 65 agree.

• 16 percent of Republican voters overall would like to see Gov. John Kasich win the nomination; 4 percent of tea partyers, 12 percent of evangelicals, 6 percent of “very conservative,” 28 percent of moderates, 16 percent of men, 18 percent of women, 17 percent of those 18-44 years, 15 percent of those 45-64 and 17 percent of those over 65 agree.

Source: A Quinnipiac University poll of 652 Republican voters conducted March 16-21.

• Nitpicking, happy chatter to jharper@washingtontimes.com.