Subject: USGLC Board Update: Election Analysis
From: "Liz.Schrayer" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2014 17:36:19 -0500

Hi all –

We just put out our analysis of the election below.  It’s a bit long, but meaty.  It includes bios of the new Senators and my top takeaways along with the key committee changes.  If you click on the link below, it will take you to the PDF that you can read online or download and print.  A few items to note that are not in the public document:

·         The USGLC team, with our state activists, met with nearly 100 candidates this year. The meetings were meaningful with influential business and community leaders and I believe will bode well going forward.

·         Overall, we feel optimistic that the 114th Congress is internationalist in their orientation – they rejected isolationism, especially after the world crises of this summer/fall.  The candidates were very clear about their views that America should be engaged in the world, though they did not know a lot about our issues even though they were very interested in learning. That said, I know that the budget pressures will be real and we will have to make our case on foreign aid once they arrive, but this is a strong starting point.

·         The electorate truly flipped from an isolationist position to a more internationally engaged America over the election.  This could easily change back, but for now, this is helpful.

·         In addition to many friends getting re-elected, there are several bright spots in the Senate including Tom Cotton (AR), Gary Peters (MI), Mike Rounds (SD), and Dan Sullivan (AK) should he be declared the winner.  We had very good meetings with all of the other Senate freshmen except Joni Ernst (IA), though FPI met with her, and while she had some concerning statements on foreign aid, I hope her military background will align her with the McCain/Graham wing of the party and not Rand Paul.  I am optimistic about Ben Sasse (NE), Tom Thilles (NC), and Shelly Moore Capito (WV) and maybe a few others.

·         In the House, I have already flagged at least a dozen really strong supporters on our issue.

·         New committee chairs in the Senate will be strong supporters (Corker, Graham, McCain) with the one exception of Budget (Sessions) and that will be challenging, especially with Tom Price taking over the Budget Committee in the House.

I am not naïve of how hard this is going to be, but when this election started, I truly feared we were heading into a year when candidates wouldn’t talk about foreign policy and would follow Rand Paul’s isolationist policy.  We did not identify a single one who did so.  This election did not result in a class like 2010, nor 1994 when members bragged they didn’t own passports.  And thanks to all of your support, that’s a good thing.

Now back to the hard work.  Enjoy the analysis and profiles.  Liz

Liz Schrayer | President & CEO |USGLC

From: Liz Schrayer, USGLC [mailto:[email-masked]]
Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2014 4:35 PM
To: Liz Schrayer
Subject: The Election's Biggest Loser: Isolationism?

Foreign aid survived the midterms. Here's our analysis.

Foreign Policy & The Midterms

This year’s headlines shocked the nation into paying attention to foreign policy. Russian intervention in Ukraine, the ISIS beheadings, and Ebola crossing our borders left an American public demanding a response. Candidates rejected isolationism and scrambled to add foreign policy positions to their platforms, largely embracing the importance of America’s role in the world.

<http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=Hb9R6ia9vJv5RhGZdFMqEw>

We met with nearly 100 candidates this year and compiled insights from our meetings and the new political landscape to uncover what the midterm elections mean for foreign policy. Here’s what we found.

Read Our Analysis →<http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=htHn4GS1Yqa1A9si-dtKWg>

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<http://action.usglc.org/site/R?i=QE3VLnoLguSNK-UibP7RaQ>