IF JAMAICA'S PRIME MINISTER Portia Simpson-Miller plays her hand right she should be able to swing more votes her party's way on election day.

Political consultant Peter Wickham said yesterday in a telephone interview that the postponement of the general elections would "definitely" raise her profile "depending on how she handles it".

"Once she physically associates herself with the relief she should be okay," he said.

The elections, originally slated for August 27, were postponed until September 3 because of the destruction caused by Hurricane Dean which hit the island on Sunday with 145 mph winds.

"I think any kind of delay is beneficial to Portia Simpson-Miller assuming that she would use the time effectively, which means in political terms at this stage making her presence known throughout the country, offering her assistance in a very direct way," Wickham told the DAILY NATION.

The director of the Caribbean Development Research Services (CADRES) contended, however, that a week was not enough time and suggested a month would be "more reasonable in terms of changing people's perceptions".

"To me seven days is not long enough. I think she should have tried for a little longer, but I don't know how prudent that was bearing in mind that the amount of devastation is not really absolute. The quantity of devastation is not such that you could say she would need that time. In these circumstances any delay is to her benefit and I would agree that a seven-day delay is probably good news for her.

"I really don't think there's a lot she can do in a week. A month to me would have been enough time for her to reassert and essentially move people's minds away from that disastrous prime ministerial debate," he added.

The pollster said that Simpson-Miller, who is leading the ruling People's National Party into the election, was "massacred" in the televised debate, but he was not "surprised" by this.

"She tried to be the technocrat that she wasn't and unfortunately that was her downfall. You can't go into something like that debating Bruce Golding and try and deal with policy. She needed to bring things down to a very simple level and she didn't achieve that, she wasn't able to rise to that level that he was debating on and, as a result, she made herself look uncomfortable which is something a prime minister should never look.

"I think she lost the opportunity. She should either have not gone or alternatively gone and bring the level of the debate down to a very basic level," Wickham asserted. (DS)