There’s still much we don’t know about the mechanics and the motivations of the 20-year-old-shooter who tried to kill Donald Trump on Saturday afternoon in rural Pennsylvania. If this madman’s twisted intent was to strike a blow against Trump or his brand, the would-be assassin failed miserably and instead achieved what many might have deemed impossible: He made Trump a sympathetic figure, even to those of us who sincerely worry about the former president’s record of behavior and about the course he has set for the nation’s future.

No matter what one’s political beliefs, targeting Trump or any other leader with violence is anathema and tantamount to treason. The shooter’s summary execution by counter-snipers not only saved other lives in Butler, PA, but it also delivered swift justice for an act so out of bounds, so menacing in its consequence, as to be cheered by all corners of the republic.

There’s no evidence that this killer’s madness was driven by reason or ideology. It’s just as probable that he was like so many young men who’ve unleashed carnage in school classrooms and corridors, supermarkets, and churches across America over the last two decades— demented, sick, and armed with a deadly weapon that he should not have been permitted to wield. But because this particular lunatic’s projectiles were aimed at the head of a former president, party leader, and presumptive nominee, his act is all-the-more monstrous.

It could have set loose forces of civil unrest and violence unseen in this nation since the age of secession.

In the days since the former president was wounded— and a spectator killed— there have been sensible calls for lowering the rhetorical temperature on both sides of the partisan divide. It’s a welcome and natural impulse to walk back from the edge of a widening national chasm and seek new ways to engage in a debate that can— and must— still be joined. There’s hope, however fleeting, that such a tone may be set at this week’s Republican convention in Milwaukee.

Much will depend on the words and deeds of Trump himself. Can he pivot, at age 78, from his well-documented impulse to denigrate and demonize foes from his bully pulpit? Has his literal brush with death prompted any soul-searching that might prompt him to temper his own demons and summon a newfound role as a unifying figure? Hope springs eternal.

Trump’s selection of Ohio’s Sen. J.D. Vance, whose rash statement assigning blame for the attempt on Trump’s life to Biden, as his choice for vice-president does not bode well. Vance, a relative novice on the national political scene, has leaned deeply into hard-right conspiracy theories regarding election integrity. Perhaps most alarmingly, Vance is the standard bearer for Trump’s isolationalist, pro-Putin, and anti-NATO foreign policy that would undermine Ukraine’s fight for survival and weaken US interests in Europe and beyond.

His election and potential elevation to the presidency if Trump wins and vacates would be disastrous for the balance of power in the West— and weaken US standing across the globe.

There are endless reasons to oppose the Trump-Vance ticket. We expect to hear many more of them surface during the course of this week’s GOP conclave and the Democrat’s rejoinder meeting in August.

But all Americans should stive to keep the debate civil and constructive. Here’s hoping Trump, for once, will lead the way.

-Bill Forry