This should probably be in the expansion suggestions thread, but I did not want it to get lost there. I think a new skill in the game should be luck. Some candidates are able to do just about anything and keep it from hurting them (Reagan comes to mind), while others could drown in three inches of water (McGovern and Dukakis come to mind). The luck skill could come into play as a random event with say a very effective or ineffective ad (Willie Horton or the girl picking the daisy ads) or a great speech in contrast to a stupid blunder in a speech, or maybe even a positive or negative media event (Thomas Eagleton, the Donna Rice scandal, or Dukakis in the armor uniform).
I also hate the idea of difficulty level. If you're campaigning as James Buchanan (or even Pat Buchanan), you should lose every time FDR unless you have some strength that you keep on taking advantage of. I hate playing against candidates who get multiple endorsements in a turn, can place several TV ads despite not building a network of HQs to be able to pay for them, and can visit three different states and place an ad in each one while fundraising and giving speeches on a turn.
I would also get rid of the pop up newpapers or weekly updates that disallow you from getting to a random event. The crawler should be good enough to signify who is placing an ad or giving a speech with different color coding if its a TV or radio ad. Its frustrating when the opponent has already visited three states and moved on to the random event as a fourth move because you have to read the news of the week or see that he's running a media ad against you and have to clear that before you can move. Its also not fair that it comes up with the newspaper bit about him placing an ad before his jet can even land in that state.