It isn't cheating anymore than someone playing Reagan against a custom candidate. The default candidates can have up to twice as many points as a custom.
But the game has so few candidates.
Do you really think that John McCain can be created fairly using only 5 points? JFK?
I'm less interested in what's cheating in regards to candidate creation and what's available to let me put some real candidates in the game. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to pick Laura, Barbara, or Senior Bush as W's running mate. I'm not going to pick B. Clinton as Kerry's. Its just too silly and the game is silly enough as it is. Give me a realistic Bob Taft from Ohio, John McCain, Senator Frist, Tom Daschle, etc. Until Stardock releases them, this is the only way to do it.