I already knew that, the problem is that all of the custom characters have to be either a Republican or a Democrat, and there's no possibility of a three way race. For example, I can't create a Teddy Roosevelt character who is a member of the Progressive Party to compete against a Republican and Democratic candidate.
I agree that debates should be added. They fit within the general campaigning format of the game, and the general structure is already in place with the media interview segments -- they would just be an extension of this format, except with the ability to respond not only to a person in the media but also to what the opposing candidate says. This could be especially fun in multiplayer.
Apologies if this topic has been brought up multiple times before, but as someone who has played the previous two games in the series I was hoping that this third iteration would have an option for independent/custom party candidates. Obviously it doesn't, which is a shame. Of course independent/third party candidates usually end up with around 1% of the vote and thus typically aren't very important, but every now and then they can play a pivotal role. Nader's