It's interesting that so many of you are struggling with Election because you can't find a character to empathize with... would the equivalent be a refusal to vote in an election because you don't identify with any of the candidates?
For me, at least, it's not that I can't identify with the characters, I can, all of them in all their flaws. I just don't know who I'm supposed to be rooting for. That doesn't make the film bad, it just makes me confused.
Oddly, I think skjerva, of all people, comes closest to capturing what Payne's really trying to argue with the film. So now, in addition to being confused, I am scared.