A fall from grace that Joe didn't see coming

AS Charles Dickens might have said, it was the best of decisions, it was the worst of decisions. It was totally shocking, and yet entirely expected.

- PETER SHERIDAN

It plunged America's political landscape into chaos but gave a moribund Democratic Party the chance to pull victory from the jaws of defeat.

Under the sort of mounting pressure that moves tectonic plates and shakes cities, America's presidential race experienced an earthquake yesterday as Joe Biden announced that he was withdrawing from the election.

Amid growing concerns about his age, mental acuity and fitness to run for a second term in the White House, 81-year-old Biden threw in the towel.

"I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term," he stated.

Though he will remain in the Oval Office until his presidency expires in January, Biden will no longer be the Democratic Party's candidate facing Donald Trump, who on Thursday accepted the Republican nomination.

Biden's decision to end his fivedecade political career comes after three nightmare weeks when his anticipated run for another four years in office went off the rails, crashed and burned.