WASHINGTON • The stage is set for November.

Barring unforeseen disaster, Joe Biden will represent the Democratic Party against President Donald Trump this fall, the former vice president’s place on the general election ballot cemented Wednesday by Bernie Sanders’ decision to end his campaign.

Biden likely won’t secure the number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination until June. But without Democratic rivals left, a general election campaign that will almost certainly be the most expensive and among the nastiest in U.S. history is underway.

“It won’t be easy. Nobody’s confused about that. But we are ready for the general election. We are ready for our standard-bearer,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez said. “I’m confident because Joe Biden’s values reflect the values of the majority of the American people that we can win.”

In Biden and Trump, voters will choose between two white septuagenarians with dramatically different prescriptions for health care, climate change, foreign policy and leadership in an era of extreme partisanship.

At 77, Biden becomes the oldest major party presidential nominee in modern history. And having spent most of his life as an elected official in Washington, no nominee has had more experience in government.

But in Trump, Biden is up against an adversary the likes of which he has never faced in his decadeslong political career. The 73-year-old Republican president opens with a massive cash advantage and a well-established willingness to win at any cost.

Trump’s campaign is moving forward with a multipronged attack that mixes legitimate criticism with baseless charges and, in some cases, outright conspiracy theories. It’s similar to the unconventional playbook Trump used against Hillary Clinton four years ago with unexpectedly success.

Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said Biden will be portrayed as too liberal for most Americans, weighed down by questions about his son’s overseas dealings and about questionable mental acuity at his age. Brad Parscale, Trump’s campaign manager, predicted Trump would “destroy” Biden, whom Trump has nicknamed “Sleepy Joe.”

Trump’s team also believes he can win over disaffected Sanders supporters who see Biden as a consummate insider. Shortly after Sanders’ announcement, the president charged without evidence that Democrats were plotting against Sanders.

The Republican National Committee has assembled an extensive research book on Biden. The GOP has devoted 10 researchers to Biden and sent hundreds of Biden-related freedom of information and public records requests to gather additional damaging material.

Before Biden can shift his focus to Trump, the former vice president is tasked with winning over Sanders’ skeptical far-left supporters, who have trashed Biden’s record on trade, criminal justice, corporate America and foreign policy. The party’s most progressive wing also fears that Biden’s policies on health care and the environment, among others, don’t go far enough.

Biden advisers note that he had begun reaching out to Sanders’ aligned progressive organizations, including those focused on young people like the Sunrise Movement and the March For Our Lives.

Perhaps Biden’s most powerful ally, former President Obama, was quiet on Wednesday. Still, the former president and first lady Michelle Obama are expected to help rally the party behind Biden, who served for eight years as Obama’s vice president.

Sen. Bernie Sanders

Charles Krupa