Joe Biden had one job at his first Democratic debate. He didn’t have to win, but he couldn’t lose. He was there to remind everyone that he was a jovial grandpa—someone who would take his gloves off for Donald Trump, but put them back on for everyone else. He would take every opportunity to play for nostalgia and remind the crowd of how good things once were—back when Barack Obama was president and he was a meme.

It almost worked. Eric Swalwell, perhaps the most desperate of the 20 aspirants who appeared over two nights, took an early shot, informing Biden that he had argued that it was time to pass the torch 32 years ago, when he first ran for president. It was a good line—Swalwell’s only good line of the night—but Biden shrugged it off. A kid took his shot, but it didn’t hit; Biden grinned like he was Jesse James having missed an assassin’s bullet (if Jesse James spent several thousand dollars on tooth whitening).

WATCH: Rep. Eric Swalwell: "Joe Biden was right when he said it was time to pass the torch to a new generation of Americans -- when he said it 32 years ago." #DemDebate2 pic.twitter.com/7gs1cq5cWd — NBC News (@NBCNews) June 28, 2019

For Biden, it seemed to be a reminder of the basis of his campaign thus far. He hasn’t been Middle Class Joe for some time, but he’s been Teflon Joe in this election cycle. Despite continuing to do Joe Biden things, his poll numbers haven’t decreased. The king stays the king.

But that may very well change after Thursday. Even if it doesn’t, however, Biden’s vulnerabilities as a candidate, both in a Democratic primary and a general election, were on full display.

That was, to some extent, by design. Biden stood like a wax figure on the stage—he was there to remind the audience of the way things were before Donald Trump was president. But the issues being talked about by the candidates—health care, racial justice, climate change—were not resolved while he was vice president. Far from it. The implicit argument of nearly all of the Democratic candidates, whatever tribe they belong to, is that the Obama administration didn’t go far enough and that much more is needed to create a just and equitable society.