"Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards on Friday pulled out of a second debate co-hosted by Fox News Channel, saying the cable network has a conservative slant," the AP says.

"The Edwards campaign said it will not attend the September 23 debate in Detroit hosted by Fox News and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute, but officials added that Edwards is 'looking forward' to a different debate hosted by the institute and CNN in South Carolina in January 2008."

Jonathan Prince, Edwards' deputy campaign manager, says: "We believe there's just no reason for Democrats to give Fox a platform to advance the right-wing agenda while pretending they're objective..."