The only speech slip that Joe Biden-watchers noticed Wednesday night won wild cheers and laughter for the vice presidential candidate known for well-meaning, but at times embarrassing, gaffes.

After describing a country filled with uncertainties about it's future, Biden said "That's the America that George Bush has left us, and that's the future George - I mean John - McCain will give us."

If teleprompters are to be believed, the flub was unscripted. But it did fit in nicely with one of the major themes of the convention: McCain equals Bush, a sentiment plastered all over the red placards that DNC staffers are foisting upon convention-goers.

So, happy coincidence or planned mistake? No telling. But Biden's habit of inserting his foot in his mouth has already earned him his own gaffe countdown clock [1] on the Republican National Committee Web site.

And less than a week after Biden cinched the VP nomination, his penchant for unfiltered chattiness and questionable word choices has already surfaced, albeit on a more minor scale than his primary-era slips.

At a women’s economic roundtable hosted by Michelle Obama Tuesday, he addressed the crowd as “mostly ladies. Thank God for small favors.” The remark prompted surprised chuckles from the audience.  Earlier that day, Biden showed a tendency toward the emotive [2] when he teared up during intensely personal remarks to his home state delegates, a group he said help him through times of tragedy.

And at the Springfield, Ill. stop where his nomination was announced, he introduced his running mate as “Barack America.” 

During the Democratic primary, he referred to Obama as the first “African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” drawing fire for perceived racism in the intended compliment.

Wednesday night, he frequently slipped from the teleprompter, but quickly recovered. The speech thoroughly thrashed McCain's record, but lacked the luster of Sen. Hillary Clinton's blockbuster speech the night before. And Obama, in a surprise visit, upstaged his No. 2.

The Obama campaign has told other media outlets that it doesn't plan on reining in the loquacious senator from Delaware. His everyman mistakes may help make him even more relatable, a quality that helped him win the veep nomination.

But before the Obama camp chose Biden, it chose his communications staff, according to the New York Times [3].

It falls to traveling press secretary David Wade – formerly spokesman for would-be president Sen. John Kerry – to keep the veteran Delaware senator on message.

Another seasoned pro, Ricki Seidman, joined up as Biden’s communications director out of the campaign’s Chicago headquarters following her stint in the Clinton White House press office.