President Reagan promoted George Bush as his White House successor, suggesting voters would choose the vice president over “out-and-out liberal” Dukakis if they did “a little comparison shopping.” Bush himself was at the White Houe, out of the public eye. The president told a conservative gathering in Washington, “The American people understand what liberalism means and don’t like it, so our opponents plan to go to the voters incognito – they’re putting on political trench coats and sunglasses.” Reagan quipped that the Democrats “will never, even in the lowest whisper, mumble the “L” word again.”