Presidential candidate John Edwards, who led fellow Democratic candidates to boycott a Fox News-sponsored debate, is now urging that News Corp.’s acquisition of Dow Jones should be blocked. Edwards argues that FNC is biased to the right: “The basis of a strong democracy begins and ends with a strong, unbiased and fair media—all qualities which are pretty hard to subscribe to Fox News and News Corp.” He also wants Hillary Clinton to return $20,000-plus in presidential campaign donations from News Corp. officials; nearly one-fourth of that is from COO Peter Chernin, who frequently supports Democrats and also has made donations to the campaigns of Barack Obama and Chris Dodd. (via the AP.)

Dodd, who is waging his own battle against FNC’s Bill O’Reilly, earlier this week issued a statement of concern about consolidating media: “With News Corp.’s purchase of the newspaper, I am concerned that it will be very difficult for the Journal to offer fair and balanced reporting under the pressures of a giant-media conglomerate.”

FCC Commissioner Michael Copps has already warned that regulatory approval won’t be a “slam dunk.”

E&P: Meanwhile, Jerry Ceppos, a well-respected former Knight Ridder senior exec, wants anti-trust rules rewritten to stop “Murdoch-type domination.” Ceppos in today’s Mercury News: Journal reporters who worry that “their new boss might tell them what to write” are missing the point ... “New boss Rupert Murdoch has more control over media—way beyond the Journal—than anyone else in history.”