Perfect comeback? No. But I definitely would have made myself accessible to the voters and the press instead of hiding myself for months after botching a Sean Hannity interview.
I think the problem Moore faced when he went into that interview is that people had already characterized the dating of teenage women to be the equivalent of molesting a 14 year old. I heard it in the opinions being expressed at the time.
The claims that he dated teenagers was lumped together with this accusation he molested a 14 year old girl. People were making it sound as if you admitted to the one, you were admitting to all of it.
The problem was, Moore did date teenage girls when he was in his thirties, but in the media circus with which he was confronted, it would have hurt him to say so.
He just didn't think it through. Yes, it would have hurt him to admit to dating teenagers when he was in his thirties, but he could have said, "Yes, I absolutely dated teenagers back then, but I did not molest this one who is accusing me."
Moore got a raw deal by the way the debate was framed when he went into that interview with Hannity. He shouldn't have evaded or talked sideways, he should have owned up to this unpopular activity, and vehemently denied the rest.
But who has such presence of mind? Had I been accused of molesting someone, I would have probably been shell shocked and unable to say anything sensible.
It's easy to condemn when we don't have to go through such upheavals ourselves.
