Move Over Donald Trump, VP Joe Biden Is Heading for Iowa: Election Watch 2016

Written by Alison Gowans

Days after Donald Trump, Texas Rep. Ted Cruz, Rick Santorum and other faces of the GOP descended on the Hawkeye State for the Family Leader Summit in Ames, some Democratic heavyweights announced plans to mingle with Iowans. 

Des Moines this month also hosted an Emily's List forum, an effort to get a female president elected. 
Yes, it appears the buzz of the 2016 election cycle is starting to pick up. 

Senator Tom Harkin announced this that Vice President Joe Biden and San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro will be the featured guests at his 36th Annual Steak Fry in September.

True, the next presidential election isn't until 2016. But the nation's politicians and media have apparently decided that's soon enough to start visiting Iowa and speculating on what those visits mean. Does this mean Biden will run for president again? Castro is a rising party star - what does the visit say about his future aspirations?

Whether you care about these questions or would like to avoid presidential politics until at least after the 2014 Congressional battle is over, it may be too late to ignore the start of the next campaign season. 

Past Harkin Steak Fry special guests have included Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, Senator Al Franken and all of the major Democratic presidential candidates in 2003 and 2007.  

The event will be held Sunday, Sept. 15 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Warren County Fairgrounds.