Obama to campaign during Republican convention

President Barack Obama won't let Mitt Romney have the spotlight all to himself next week during the Republican convention. The incumbent will be campaigning in Iowa, Colorado and Virginia, according to local news reports. (Hat tip: ace Los Angeles Times reporter Mike Memoli, who tweeted links to those reports well before the campaign confirmed the travel.)

It's common for candidates to let their rivals have the political stage during their conventions—but then again the Obama campaign had already announced on Tuesday that Vice President Joe Biden would head to the GOP convention host city, Tampa, and to other locales in Florida.

Obama's first stop will be Ames, Iowa, for a rally with college students on Tuesday—the second night of the Republican convention—reports the Des Moines Register.

From there, he will head to Fort Collins, Colo., to speak to students at Colorado State University, also on Tuesday, according to the Coloradoan. And keeping with the college-town theme, Obama will campaign in Charlottesville, Va., on Wednesday, says the Daily Progress.

He'll come back on Sept. 1, just before the Democratic convention kicks off in Charlotte, according to the Des Moines Register.