They have been livid that Fox News was chosen to broadcast the Democrats’ debate and have been trying to strong arm the party into calling it off. They’ve even lied about how Fox News handled the last debate. So, it’s not surprising that the candidates will start dropping out. And since we already know that Edwards values the opinion of the netroots more than common sense, it figures that he would be the first to drop out:

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards won’t participate in a debate co-hosted by Fox News and the Nevada Democratic Party, his campaign said, as party officials tried to settle a dustup over their partnership with the cable network.
Edwards’ campaign said the involvement of Fox News, which is often accused by liberals of having a conservative bias, was part of the decision to pass on the Aug. 14 debate in Reno.
“There were a number of factors and Fox was one of those. We’re already planning to participate in a jam-packed schedule of debates across this country … we can’t attend every single debate and forum,” the campaign said in a statement.
Online activists and bloggers quickly hailed Edwards’ decision as a victory in their campaign to urge Nevada Democrats to drop Fox News as a partner.
MoveOn.org Civic Action says it has collected more than 260,000 signatures on a petition that calls the cable network a “mouthpiece for the Republican Party, not a legitimate news channel.”

This is what’s funny about the Democrats, they throw away an opportunity to expose their candidates to a larger audience just so they can triumph over an enemy. Pretty juvenile.

Fox News Channel vice president of news David Rhodes issued a statement calling it “unfortunate that Sen. Edwards has decided to abandon an opportunity to reach the largest mainstream cable news audience in America.”
[…]
Searer said the decision to partner with Fox, which will pay for some production and promotion costs, is part of Nevada Democrats’ overall plan to bring new voters into the presidential process and its new early caucus, scheduled for Jan. 19.