Hardly

But how can the opponent get all those endorsements without buying lots of outreach centers?

I was just about writing my own thread about this. I've played only two games, custom candidate vs the computer. Both times I've lost in a landslide, and both times the computer got endorsements seemingly handed to them every other round. I had no chance keeping up, even if I built as many outreach centers I could. This was on normal difficulty. If this happens every time, it's unplayable, as it is now.