Joe Biden to Show Up During GOP Convention

(Image Credit: Lynne Sladky/AP Photo)

As Republicans converge on Florida next week to formally nominate Mitt Romney, Vice President Joe Biden plans to be in town.

Biden will be in Florida Monday and Tuesday, including a visit to the Tampa area, site of the 2012 Republican National Convention, the Obama campaign said today.

"Any of you going to be in Florida?" Biden joked to reporters today on a campaign stop in Minneapolis. "Well, I'm the speaker at the convention. I'm gonna be down there."

His presence in the state - the largest electoral battleground - is part of a coordinated effort by Democrats and President Obama's re-election campaign to bracket the Republican festivities and steal some of the spotlight.

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Democrats are planning a "counter convention" in downtown Tampa to be orchestrated out of a "rapid response war room" steps from where Republicans are huddled, the Democratic National Committee announced.

Party officials said that DNC chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida would play a key role in the effort, leading the rebuttal from the left as each GOP speaker takes the stage.

"While the RNC will focus on burnishing Romney's biography as a so-called Mr. Fix It, the DNC/OFA [Obama for America] response will be to highlight how his work in the private sector and as governor was a disaster for the middle class," the DNC said in a statement.

A representative for the Republican National Committee did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment on Biden's appearance or Democrats' efforts in Tampa.

ABC News' Arlette Saenz contributed reporting.