And his momentum may be even bigger than the Super Tuesday returns suggested, for three reasons. One, early voting in some states preceded his surge and probably didn’t reflect it. Two, the coalescing of other Democrats around him is so new that it may not have fully registered with voters. Three, exit polls affirmed that Democratic voters care more about choosing the fiercest adversary for President Trump than about embracing a candidate whose positions they like best. Super Tuesday cast Biden as that adversary. It gave him that glow. So he could shine brighter still when another six states vote in a week.

That’s especially true in light of what happened on Wednesday morning: Michael Bloomberg, who had an epically disappointing and decidedly un-super Tuesday, dropped out of the race and endorsed Biden. Votes that would have gone to him are much more likely to go to Biden than to Sanders.

Sanders could be in big trouble. Or not. He’s going to win California, the state with by far the greatest trove of delegates. And his impassioned supporters have already begun to portray Biden’s Super Tuesday showing as the product of some Democratic establishment trickery. Who knows how this will play out? If 2016 and 2020 so far have taught us anything, it’s not to get ahead of ourselves.

This much is safe to say: The landscape of the Democratic primary was messy, and now it’s clean. So is the choice. The contest for the party’s presidential nomination comes down to two very distinct visions and two very different old men.

So much for the most crowded field of Democratic aspirants in memory. So much for that field’s diversity — for the formidable women in the hunt, for the compelling candidates of color.