Biden visits anti-war Democrats as Syria looms

INDIANOLA, Iowa (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden is heading into the belly of Democrats’ anti-war opposition, venturing into a politically influential heartland state for the first time since President Barack Obama publicly endorsed a possible military strike on Syria.

Biden is scheduled to headline a fundraiser in Iowa Sunday for Sen. Tom Harkin, a Democrat popular with the party’s anti-war wing.

Whether or not Biden mentions plans to rid Syria of chemical weapons, the issue will be on people’s minds. Fear of war has eased as the U.S. and Russia agreed Saturday to a diplomatic plan to remove Syria’s chemical stockpile. But if it fails, “the United States remains prepared to act,” Obama said Saturday.

Iowa’s caucuses are also expected to begin the 2016 Democratic presidential nominating sequence, a race Biden is mulling.