In the wake of a hurricane which changed course, Jamaica votes today in its 15th general election since attaining universal adult suffrage in 1944. Hurricane Dean, veering from direct impact, forced a change from the original August date, thereby prolonging a campaign of mixed quality ending on the weekend with isolated episodes of gun violence.

In a pattern persisting even before achieving independence in 1962, the two major political parties, the People's National Party (PNP) and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), have been the main pillars of a multi-party democrac in two-term tenures of political administration.

When that pattern ended in the late 1980s, a four-term hold on power by the PNP set a precedent, posing challenges and sharpening political rivalry; on the one hand, the appetite for a record fifth term, and on the other, a desperate bid to preserve a role as a vital segment of Jamaican political history.

The leading personalities have their own date with history. On the side of the PNP incumbents, Portia Simpson Miller is the first female Prime Minister seeking, as she sees it, her own people mandate, having been voted into leadership a year ago in a party presidential race to replace the retired P.J. Patterson.

On the other side, Bruce Golding, the one-time heir apparent in the Seaga-led JLP, returned to the fold after a third-party flirtation of his own devising; and bids fair to challenge for the big prize as the head of a party some 18 years in the wilderness.

The long campaign has been lively to the point of occasional acrimony and spasms of bad taste. A three-part series of televised national debates provided insights into character, elocution, and glimpses of intellect that may prove decisive to those of the electorate mindful of quality beyond the platform shenanigans on the hustings.

To a marked extent, television and radio advertising has played a prominent role, in particular during the campaign extension caused by the weather. Inevitably, questions about the negative nature of some ads have arisen in much the same way that American practice in this regard arouses much criticism.

The party manifestos, which supplied the issues that project policies and programmes of an incoming administration, were issued too late to raise the level of debate and analysis; but then, they were perhaps theoretical formalities tendered for the record and scholarly scrutiny.

We leave for last the abiding concern that still haunts our political history. We refer to the ominous spasms of violence reported on Saturday, the last day of the campaign. The evil activists who lurk in the shadows must not be allowed the cloak of politics to foment mayhem and kill people. Jamaica's reputation for murder needs no enhancement.

We must be aware that the world will watch today as we vote in a free and fair election as new Hurricane Felix passes far enough south as a weathervane of a season to remember for future reference.