Sadly

 There are all kinds of ways that the events of July 13, 2024 could affect the way things turn out in November. In one particular version of the aftermath of the attempted murder of Donald Trump, the presumptive candidate for the Republican Party could have expressed his regrets.

He could have used this opportunity to announce his shame for the way his words had promoted such anger and hate that he could have become a target for an assassin's bullet. He could use this chance to examine how his rhetoric could have incited so much rage that he became a target for that kind of murderous intent. 

Furthermore, in the wake of becoming a victim of gun violence himself, he might feel compelled to rethink his own stand on the Second Amendment. Maybe our love affair with guns and the way America has become all too familiar with the all-too-easy version of problem solving that he would announce that background checks turn out to be a very important thing and that civilians do not need access to weapons that could be used for the killing of other civilians. 

This might trigger further remorse for his prior commitment to violent change. Like the events of January 6, 2021. Telling those who follow him to take to the streets, to match on the Capitol and "firght like Hell" could have been just the kind of incitement to riot that put a match to the feelings he so carefully set up in the first place. 

The essentially needless death of two fellow Americans, one of whom was an innocent victim there at the rally to support the ex-president. Two more victims suffered critical wounds during the melee, simply because they wanted to be part of the circus-like atmosphere that he commands. The gunman, only twenty years old must have been affected in some horribly powerful way to have attempted to kill such a heavily guarded individual. 

Donald Trump could use this moment to rethink his whole campaign. His whole adult life. What if someone hated you so much that they wanted to kill you? Would't that give you pause? 

Or would it give you the martyr's role, with the raised fist and bloodied shirt? In one version of the next few months, there might be quiet contemplation of all the ways and words that led us to this point by the man who spoke them. 

I do not expect that this is how things will go down.