Biden Returns to "Daily Show"

And the gaffe-prone veep produces more gasps even before the show--as his Secret Service entourage gets involved in a car accident in midtown NYC, just a couple blocks from Jon Stewart's studio, injuring four. Biden's crew actually hit and killed a pedestrian just last week.

On a lighter note: Who can forget that day in January 2007 when Sen. Biden offered his infamous quip about "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy." He was referring to the man who is now his new boss, Barack Obama. But by now, you have surely forgotten that this took place on the very day Biden announced his race for president -- and that he happened to appear that night on "The Daily Show."

There he said (as I reported at the time) that he was simply trying to be "complimentary" toward Obama, but wasn't "artful" in doing so. He told Stewart that the "word that really got me in trouble" was calling Obama "clean....I should have said fresh. What I meant was he's got new ideas."

He said he had already called Obama, to which Stewart quipped, "I bet you did." Biden then said he also called former candidates Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, to which Stewart added: "And Michael Jordan?"

When Biden first appeared on stage, Stewart teased, "How's your day been?" Biden said, "It's a tough game," and crossed himself (he is Catholic).

Stewart reminded him that just yesterday he had told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he had learned from previous campaigns to be careful, since "words matter." Stewart said, "And then you came out with this one," quoting the lines about Obama.

Stewart advised in a whisper, "When you are about to say one of those things, take a deep breath and count to 10."