People keep talking about Vice President Joe Biden’s tendency to commit “gaffes”. And the man a heartbeat away from being the leader of the free world has made a few. But lately, it is another prominent Democrat who finds himself needing to pause to remove his foot from his mouth.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., is issuing apologies for jokes he made about Asian-Americans during a speech before the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce.

During his comments before the Chamber Reid said, “The Asian population is so productive. I don’t think you’re smarter than anybody else, but you have convinced a lot of us you are.”

While this is a comment that would never raise an eyebrow if spoken by a late-night talk show host or comedian, someone in Harry Reid’s position has to tread lightly nowadays in this atmosphere of heightened sensibilities and political correctness.

Reid also joked later in his speech, “One problem I’ve had today is keeping my Wongs straight.”

If the meeting had been a completely closed-door affair, Reid may have never needed to backpedal his comments. But after Mitt Romney’s comments about “47% of Americans” got him in such hot water and affected his election hopes, politicians are very careful lest they be caught on video saying something they may later regret.

This was the case at the Chamber meeting in Las Vegas.

“My comments were in extremely poor taste and I apologize,” Reid said in a statement emailed to CBS News. “Sometimes I say the wrong thing.”

Learn your lesson, Harry Reid. Sometimes the Wong thing is the wrong thing. You never know who may be listening.