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Tony Blair and Gavin Newsom at Delancey Street Sunday Morning

by Blair/Newsom Cynical Publicity Stunt
Blair visits Delancey Street Sunday AM Delancey Street Foundation
600 Embarcadero
San Francisco, CA 94107
Tel: (415) 957-9800
Fax: (415) 512-5186
San Francisco Marathon taking place also; plenty of people to see you

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/07/28/MNG3MK79F31.DTL&type=printable
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Britain's Blair visiting S.F. for weekend
Prime minister will hold trade talks, discuss environment and foreign policy
- Carla Marinucci, John Wildermuth, Chronicle Political Writers
Friday, July 28, 2006



British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrives in San Francisco today to kick off a packed five-day California trip with political implications both here and abroad -- and an agenda including trade discussions, an environmental roundtable with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and business leaders, and a major speech on foreign policy.

The surprise trip by Blair, the first ever by a sitting prime minister to California, has been shielded by unusual secrecy and was announced just this week -- setting off a flurry of competition among celebrities for invitations to A-list social events like a reception at the Getty Villa in Malibu next week hosted by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Blair is expected to dine with former Secretary of State George Shultz and his wife, state protocol chief Charlotte Shultz, at their Russian Hill home Saturday. He'll visit Delancey Street and South San Francisco-based Genentech, the biotech giant, before heading to Long Beach on Monday.

There, he'll meet with Schwarzenegger and business leaders for a roundtable on global climate change issues before delivering a foreign policy speech Tuesday.

The trip comes with some distinct political benefits for both Blair, an embattled head of state whose critics have attacked him as President Bush's poodle, and Schwarzenegger, a Republican governor of the nation's most populous state who aims to distance himself from President Bush as he seeks re-election at home.

"It couldn't come at a better time for both of them,'' said Barbara O'Connor, professor of political communication at Cal State Sacramento. It shores up Blair's reputation back home, she said, to push business and trade abroad, while allowing him to bask in attention in the United States where he continues to have a positive profile.

"Americans really like him ... he's a terrific communicator, telegenic, quick and funny,'' O'Connor said. "Americans loved him when he was hanging out with Clinton, and the British liked him, too, until he got involved with Bush'' on the war in Iraq.

Bill Whalen, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, said Blair continues to hold the U.S. imagination because he is "a terrifically talented orator; you listen to his addresses before Congress on the war on terror, and you want to go out and enlist. He's remarkably eloquent on the (issue) and politically daring.''

But Blair's road trip abroad comes as he faces increasing political pressure and criticism at home, both as a supporter of the president and in connection with a headline-grabbing political scandal. In the so-called loans for peerages probe, law enforcement is investigating whether some major donors to political parties -- including Blair's Labor Party -- have been given honors and titles in exchange for big campaign loans.

The prime minister's high profile stay has a benefit for the governor, allowing him to be on the leadership stage with a major world figure, while underscoring the issue of the environment, a key concern of state voters.

"Arnold is on a roll ... so it adds to Arnold's luster here. It shows that he has the image of an international politician,'' O'Connor said. "And as California swelters, he's at a high profile affair on global warming, one of the issues Californians most care about.''

But critics say that during this trip, Californians will see that both the Schwarzenegger and Bush suffer in comparison to Blair -- both on environmental expertise and in political gravitas.

"He's twice as bright as Bush -- and most Californians, if they were asked who they would rather have as president, they would pick Blair,'' said Bob Mulholland, who has made 20 trips to the United Kingdom since 1992 as a consultant to Blair's Labor Party. "They see Blair as a person who actually paid attention to foreign policy .... and has been so much more articulate, appealing and effective on the issue of Iraq than Bush.''

Mulholland, who is also an adviser to the gubernatorial campaign of state Treasurer Phil Angelides, said the trip will instead underscore that "Blair is a perfect California Democrat without U.S. citizenship papers,'' because he is a candidate who has pushed his party to stand up on issues that average people care about -- health care, higher wages and jobs.

He predicts it could serve to dramatize the weaknesses of the governor on the environment and global warming. Schwarzenegger, who drives a Hummer, "has to be very careful because Tony Blair has been a leader on (climate change) while Bush and Schwarzenegger have dragged their feet,'' Mulholland said. "If he thinks standing next to Blair will help him, he's making a big mistake.''

But Mark Baldassare, pollster for the Public Policy Institute of California, said the latest studies -- which show the deep concern of voters for the issue -- suggest the visit will be a winner for both leaders.

"It works in the California context and the election year context,'' he said. "Californians are looking for their state governor to take action that their federal government is slow to move on. And for Schwarzenegger, it's an opportunity to show leadership in an area where Californians are increasingly expressing concern.''

The latest PPIC polls show that two-thirds of Californians believe the effects of global warming have already begun and 80 percent view it as a serious threat to the economy.

"Most Californians are not pleased with the federal government in this area,'' he said. "As a GOP governor, Schwarzenegger gets to take the lead on a topic that the GOP president is getting low marks in ... and that can't hurt in an election contest.''



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Blair in California
Among the highlights of Prime Minister Tony Blair's visit to California:

-- Today: Arrives in San Francisco after morning meetings with President Bush at the White House.

-- Saturday: Dinner with former Secretary of State George Shultz and state protocol chief Charlotte Shultz in their home on Russian Hill.

-- Sunday: Tours the Delancey Street Foundation, a nationally known San Francisco-based drug and substance abuse program, with Mayor Gavin Newsom. Lunch with leading CEOs, including John Chambers of Cisco Systems and Mark Hurd of Hewlett-Packard.

-- Monday: Tours Genentech, the leading South San Francisco-based biotech firm. Travels to Long Beach and a meeting with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

-- Tuesday: Delivers major foreign policy speech to the World Affairs Council in Los Angeles.

E-mail the writers at cmarinucci [at] sfchronicle.com and jwildermuth [at] sfchronicle.com.

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URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/07/28/MNG3MK79F31.DTL


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