Tony Blair packs agenda for first visit to California

San Francisco Chief of Protocol Charlotte Schultz welcomes British Prime Minister Tony Blair for his first visit to San Francisco. Schultz and her husband, former U.S. Secretary of State George Schultz, fete Blair today with a VIP studded dinner today.
Pool Photo by Kurt Rogers

By Carla Marinucci and John Wildermuth
San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writers
Media Pool Coverage

July 29, 2006

Prime Minister Tony Blair's first visit to California has a bit of everything: serious environmental discussions, business meetings, a foreign affairs speech -- and a star-powered, incredibly eclectic gathering of world thinkers, leaders and luminaries in posh Pebble Beach.

Pool Photo by Kurt Rogers

The tony, private event, a five-day management retreat for 250 executives of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., is set to bring together a VIP guest list for the ages to chat about issues like volunteerism, technology and politics. Among them: Blair, Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres, former President Bill Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane, former Harvard University President Lawrence Summers and even U2 lead singer and international do-gooder Bono.

Introducing Blair to the crowd on Sunday evening will be California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Republican governor will be celebrating his birthday and is expected to be on hand with first lady Maria Shriver at the event sponsored by Murdoch, a generous donor to the GOP whose mega-corporation owns Fox News, 20th Century Fox, DirecTV and 175 newspapers worldwide -- including the New York Post -- with a total circulation of 40 million.

Sources say the governor -- engaged in a re-election campaign -- won't pass up a chance to talk up California in his moment on stage, but he's also just happy to be in the mix.

"There's no question that Gov. Schwarzenegger is a leader on a variety of issues, obviously with regard to global warming and the environment, and he's recognized as one of the country's most innovative thinkers on a lot of topics,'' said Adam Mendelsohn, communications director for the governor. "He's excited about the opportunity to have all these dignitaries gathered in one spot in his state and be able to participate.''

Some details have emerged about Blair's five days in California:

Today, the prime minister will dine in San Francisco with George and Charlotte Shultz, the former secretary of state and current state protocol chief, respectively, and he's also expected to meet with Democratic gubernatorial nominee Phil Angelides.

Blair will tour San Francisco's Delancey Street rehabilitation program on Sunday. On Monday, he is scheduled for a roundtable discussion with business leaders and a news conference with Schwarzenegger on global warming issues in Long Beach. On Tuesday, he is to address the World Affairs Council. But after that address, Blair and Clinton have added an event: They're expected to be at UCLA when London Mayor Ken Livingstone and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa sign a city-to-city agreement on reducing greenhouse gases, sources said.

Still, what could be the most fascinating event of the schedule will be mostly out of the public eye: Blair's visit to the retreat held by Murdoch, the media mogul. A five-page memo leaked to the Los Angeles Times this week said the very private retreat is being held at the Inn at Spanish Bay in golf-rich Pebble Beach, where attendees can work on their handicaps or hit some of the incredible seminars on tap.

Among the offerings on the list, according to the Times, are "Islam and the West" with Peres; "The Power of One" by Bono; "Meet the MySpace Generation,'' a "live focus group" exploring attitudes of today's youth; a talk on America's political divide by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.; nontraditional business approaches by Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane and even a town hall-style gathering presided over by Clinton, who the Times said is appearing gratis -- without the usual $100,000 speaking fee.

According to the Times, the attendees will be offered a choice of nearly two dozen activities at the resort, where rooms go for $995 a night.

To some activists, the visit of Blair -- and the hobnobbing with other leaders -- masks some of the more serious issues confronting his country, and America, on the world stage.

"I'd say shame on anyone celebrating Blair. ... Tony Blair and Bush are war criminals, and they're responsible for the quagmire we're in which is leading to so many deaths every day,'' said Code Pink's Medea Benjamin, one of the country's most active protesters against the war.

Benjamin was reached in Washington, where five Code Pink members were arrested Friday outside the White House during a protest of Blair's visit; she said the concern has led dozens of her organization's members to engage in a hunger strike this month that has stretched into 26 days.

"The Middle East is now exploding in even more violence, and I'd attribute that to the policies (of) Bush and Blair and how they've made us more hated around the world,'' she said.

Despite the hoopla surrounding Blair's trip -- and the retreat -- Benjamin said there are serious issues at stake. "It's sad to see somebody who could have played a positive role in this country's history turning into a real lapdog of Bush,'' she said.

But News Corp. spokesman Andrew Butcher told the Times that the retreat is intended to underscore responsibility and new ideas for attendees. "The retreat is meant to provoke and broaden their perspectives,'' he told the Times, "so they return home more curious and informed about the world.''

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