This year's first broadcast-network presidential debate, which ended its national telecast and switched to a choppy livestream feed two-thirds of the way through the event, produced a storm of complaints from viewers across the country and two of the candidates on the no-frills debate stage in Spartanburg, S.C. 
 
 CBS’s foreign policy debate, co-sponsored by National Journal, offered unusually detailed discussion of policy and a format that was free of many of the literal bells and whistles of more slickly-produced face-offs. But the confusing format — the televised portion for most of the nation ended after an hour and viewers were expected to go to the Internet to see the final 30 minutes — led to widespread frustration among those following the debate. 
 
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 A network spokeswoman, Sonya McNair, said its livestream had been overwhelmed by an unexpectedly large audience and brushed off complaints. The final half-hour had been added, she said, for the benefit of South Carolina viewers. 
 
 “We weren’t programming it for reporters in Washington, D.C.,” she said, even as it emerged that — in an unusual breakdown between network and affiliates — none of the four CBS stations in the state actually carried the last half-hour. 
 
 CBS took an equally sharp line toward the candidates who complained about a lack of attention during the debate. Ron Paul’s campaign chairman, Jesse Benton, said the network “should be ashamed” of the little time it gave Paul, given his solid poll numbers and military service. And Rep. Michele Bachmann produced a pre-debate email from newly minted CBS political director John Dickerson, mistakenly sent to a Bachmann staffer, indicating that Bachmann is “nearly off the charts,” “not going to be getting many questions,” and probably wouldn’t be even be worth inviting to a post-debate webcast. 
 
 “Bachmann is at 4 percent in the polls and has been for a while. Other candidates aren’t,” Dickerson responded. “I sent an email based on that.” 
 
 CBS’s McNair also cited the poll numbers, adding, “It was a candid exchange about the reality of the circumstances.” 
 
 But CBS already navigates conservative distrust over Dan Rather’s botched report raising questions about George W. Bush’s National Guard service in 2004 and Katie Couric’s grilling of Sarah Palin in 2008 — and Bachmann’s campaign manager said the candidate’s debate treatment flew in the face of assurances from CBS Vice President Chris Isham that the Bachmann would get a fair shot at the debate. 
 
 “They were really embarrassed,” said campaign manager Keith Nahigian. “They said, ‘We take it very seriously. We assure you you’ll be treated fairly.'” 
 
 “We’re the only candidate that didn’t get a single follow-up question,” he said. “It’s not their job to determine this stuff. It’s just outrageous.” 
 
 Paul and Bachmann may take some solace in the fact that many viewers didn’t see the full debate. While some West Coast stations carried the full 90 minutes, network executives said network affiliates in Washington, New York, and most other major East Coast markets switched to a rerun of a 2010 episode of "NCIS," whose plot hinged on missing nuclear material. 
 
 And despite statements from moderators Scott Pelley of CBS and Major Garrett of National Journal, who said, “All CBS affiliates statewide will carry the full 90 minutes,” the affiliates in all four South Carolina media markets switched away for the last half-hour. 
 
 “WLTX is on the CBS network feed. The last 30 minutes was not offered to CBS stations. Not sure why Scott Pelley said we were,” Columbia’s WLTX said on its official Twitter feed. ||||| When the Republicans gathered for their first debate focused on foreign policy Saturday, the candidate with the most foreign policy experience got left in Siberia. 
 
 That’s how Jon Huntsman, a former ambassador to China and Singapore, described the feeling of waiting 40 minutes into the National Journal/CBS debate for what was his second question of the night. 
 
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 Huntsman’s been stuck at the back of the polls and struggling to get attention for his campaign. Saturday’s debate came with less than two months to go until the New Hampshire primary — which Huntsman has made into the make-or-break moment for his campaign — and the other candidates competing for the non-Mitt Romney vote imploding. But Huntsman was once again unable to stand out, even in a forum focused on a topic where he’s got the deepest background of any of his rivals and which he’s spent more time addressing on the trail than most. 
 
 And while his campaign spokesman, Tim Miller, predicted just before the event that the former Utah governor would make clear his foreign policy differences with his rivals, Huntsman was reluctant to take the kind of swings on stage that his campaign’s been making for him in the hopes of gaining some traction. 
 
 Rather than attack Romney his suggestion that the United States formally accuse China of currency manipulation at the World Trade Organization, Huntsman used a question about China as a quiet, teachable moment. 
 
 “First of all, I don’t think, Mitt, you can take China to the WTO on currency-related issues,” Huntsman said. “Second, I don’t know that this country needs a trade war with China. … So what should we be doing? We should be reaching out to our allies and constituencies within China. They’re called the young people, they’re called the internet generation.” 
 
 Asked about the European debt crisis, he used the time to answer a previous question about what to do if Pakistan lost control of a nuclear weapon by explaining the back story, name-checking Pakistani Gen. General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and President Asif Ali Zardari. 
 
 Huntsman has played up his foreign policy chops — his daughters tweeted about it repeatedly during the debate — during a campaign season where experience hasn’t been a prerequisite for taking the lead, as Donald Trump, then Michele Bachmann and now Herman Cain demonstrated. 
 
 And Huntsman, who served as President Barack Obama’s man in China, on Saturday night endorsed Obama’s policy on Afghanistan, saying that the killing of Osama bin Laden means the United States can bring its troops home. 
 
 Later, when asked a question about the nation’s debt by Sen. Jim DeMint, Huntsman went so far as to say he agrees with Romney about divesting the federal government of responsibility for Medicaid, while repeating his support for Rep. Paul Ryan’s proposed budget reforms. 
 
 Meanwhile, via Twitter and campaign press releases, Huntsman’s staff was aggressively attacking Romney – “Pandering Or Serious Solutions?” and “Romney All Over The Map On Afghanistan” — continuing a sharp touch online, light touch onstage strategy Huntsman’s used throughout the previous debates. Wednesday night in Michigan, he resisted attacking Romney on China trade policy even pressed to by the moderators. 
 
 The result: in 90 minutes on stage, Huntsman spoke for just over six minutes. He didn’t try to get more time, unlike Bachmann, who repeatedly tried to interject — and who, along with Ron Paul, immediately after launched an attack on the debate sponsors for limiting her speaking opportunities. 
 
 “What can you do?” Huntsman said, when asked in the spin room about his lack of time. He added: “These aren’t perfect venues for the American people to kind of absorb what’s in our heads about these issues. And it’d be nice if we could somehow reconstitute them in ways that provided a little more time on the issues that really do matter.” 
 
 — Jonathan Martin contributed to this report
– If Rick Perry was the big loser in Wednesday's debate, then last night's CBS/National Journal debate also has an official whipping boy: CBS. Michele Bachmann is ripping the network for the lack of time she got, and she's got ammunition in the form of an errant email the network's new political director accidentally sent a Bachmann aide saying the Minnesota congresswoman was “not going to be getting many questions” because she was polling “nearly off the charts." John Dickerson was defiant, telling Politico, “Bachmann is at 4% in the polls. Other candidates aren’t. I sent an email based on that." “It’s not their job to determine this stuff," complained Bachmann's campaign manager. "It’s just outrageous." Ron Paul's campaign chair also slammed the network for sidelining his candidate, saying CBS "should be ashamed." Jon Huntsman, the Republican with the deepest foreign policy resume who spoke for all of six minutes, later sighed, "What can you do?" Finally, the network's decision to cut away for the final half-hour of the debate is being dubbed disastrous: The full 90 minutes were to be aired only in South Carolina markets, but all four CBS affiliates cut away, and the live-stream to which viewers were directed became quickly choppy as it was overwhelmed by demand. CBS, Politico notes, carries precious little cred with Republicans following Katie Couric's interview with Sarah Palin and Dan Rather's erroneous report of George W Bush's National Guard service.