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Congresswoman sees Joe Biden or Mike Bloomberg, not Bernie Sanders, doing well in Florida

South Florida Sun Sentinel / Anthony Man / February 19, 2020

As Democrats try to figure out who's their best candidate to nominate for president, Congresswoman Lois Frankel sees Florida as a Joe Biden or Mike Bloomberg state.

Not so much Bernie Sanders, she said.

Frankel, a Democrat who represents most of Palm Beach County, isn't yet ready to endorse any of her party's presidential candidates — though some have asked — and said she doesn't know if she will announce a choice before Florida's March 17 presidential primary.

"I think Biden and Bloomberg are more in tune with Floridians. But I don't want to discount anybody," Frankel said Tuesday during an interview with the South Florida Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, adding that she'd put Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar in the in-tune-with-Florida category "if they were better known."

Biden, Bloomberg, Buttigieg and Klobuchar are the more centrist Democrats, which is how Frankel sees the state. "I think Florida is more in the moderate lane," she said.

Sanders, a favorite of the progressive left who did well in the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary and is the leader in most of this month's presidential race polling, isn't at the top of Frankel's list.

"I don't want to badmouth him. He's probably not my first choice, but if he's the nominee I certainly am going to support him," Frankel said. As to whether Sanders could win a November election match-up against President Donald Trump in Florida, Frankel said, "he continues to amaze us all, so I don't want to predict."

Frankel's top priority is for her party to find and nominate the candidate who has the greatest chance of defeating Trump in November.

"I'm with most Democrats: Whoever can win, and I'll support whoever our nominee is. There's nothing more important than getting a new president," she said.

Some of Frankel's South Florida congressional colleagues already have made endorsements. U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch endorsed Bloomberg and U.S. Reps. Alcee Hastings and Frederica Wilson have endorsed Biden.

Frankel said she might endorse before the March 17 Florida primary. "I'm just watching to see how everybody's going to do in the next few [primary] races." An endorsement, she said, depends on who is still in the race. At this point, she said, it's impossible to predict who will still be in the race after March 3, Super Tuesday, when multiple states hold primaries.

Even though Florida voters who've requested mail ballots already have them, and some have cast their votes, it's still early. Frankel said the candidates are "not focused on Florida yet really too much. Mike Bloomberg just opened up some campaign offices, I see. I think the rest of them really have their hands full trying to get to Florida."

Most candidates have devoted the bulk of their time and money to the traditional early four states — Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina — in the nominating process. Bloomberg is bypassing the early states and is on the ballot starting with Super Tuesday primaries on March 3.

Frankel is serving her fourth term in Congress. She's a former mayor of West Palm Beach and was Democratic leader of the Florida House of Representatives during the contentious aftermath of the 2000 presidential election featuring George W. Bush and Al Gore.

Impeachment

Even though Trump was acquitted by the U.S. Senate, his impeachment by the House was the right thing to do, Frankel said.

"You know, I think about that quite often. The president is completely out of control. He thinks he's a king," she said. "We're on the absolutely the right side of history and you cannot allow somebody to just be a dictator, which is what he would like to be."

Democratic ticket

Frankel would like to see a woman on the Democratic ticket.

But, she said, the notion that Hillary Clinton, the unsuccessful 2016 Democratic presidential nominee could be the 2020 candidate for vice president, is a false notion pushed by a conservative website. "Personally, I like Hillary, but there's no chance that will be the ticket. It's one of those far-right conspiracies."

November motivation

Frankel said health care is the No. 1 issue she hears about most from her constituents and believes it will be motivating voters to turn out in November for Democrats.

But, she said, the most powerful 2020 motivator will be voters' views of Trump — both for people who don't like the president and for people who want to see him re-elected. "What I think is going to drive people to the polls is Donald Trump."