Joe Biden's press operation has found it. From Mark Leibovich's NYT profile of Biden:
Mr. Biden’s reputation for windiness, self-regard and unrestrained ambition have long prompted some degree of eye-rolling around him and probably always will.
[snip]
Members of Mr. Biden’s staff said, however, that Mr. Biden would not be made available for an interview for this article. But they helped make others available to testify on his behalf: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Mr. Obama, who took a few minutes on a day when he was setting a new course for the war in Afghanistan to express appreciation for, among other things, Mr. Biden’s willingness to speak his mind.
Well played, because it ain't bragging if someone else says it about you.
--Jason Zengerle