Former Vice President Joe Biden has wisely stayed out of the headlines in the weeks leading up to the second round of Democratic presidential debates. While Biden hasn’t fully recovered to his sky-high polling from late May, the embattled front-runner has seen a small boost in his polling, indicating yet again that Biden’s best case for his candidacy is the chaos embroiling his own party.

In the weeks after the first debate, Biden saw a precipitous drop. It’s not just that Kamala Harris’ disingenuous busing attack worked, the septuagenarian Biden just finally seemed his age. Thanks to a healthy dose of bronzer and Biden’s persistent visage, he looked the part of a president, but he sounded unfocused at best and senile at worst. With the presidential pack and President Trump dominating the headlines, persona rather than policy took center stage, and Uncle Joe seemed more like a grandpa.