What did "liberal" mean to voters in 1988?

[darklordoftech]

In 1988, HW's campaign attacked Dukakis for being a "liberal" to the point that Clinton denied being a "liberal". What did "liberal" mean to voters at the time?

[TPIG]

To many, and the way Bush Sr. used it, being labeled a liberal meant one was soft on crime, weak on defense, and unwilling to make the tough decisions necessary for the well-being of the country. Of course, Dukakis tried to counter this by riding in a tank... we all know how well that went over.

[Lincoln Republican]

The revolving door prison system, over which Bush battered Dukakis with great success for the Willie Horton fiasco.

[dead0man]

Rush Limbaugh and other right wing sheep had turned it into an insult.  They shouldn't have done that.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

1. Crime was a major issue in the 1988 Presidential campaign and liberal was successfully conflated with being "soft-on-crime"
2. "Liberal" also could mean being a relic from a bygone era where do-gooders tried to solve complex social problems with greater government involvement. I don't know if it was Ed Koch or Dave Horowitz who referred to as being "mugged by reality", and in Ed Koch's case, his perspective on low-income housing in the '60's or '70's pushed him to the right.
3. I am sure there was some residual image of an "anti-war" fanatic.

Even Michael Dukakis ran, as I recall, having been branded by certain media outlets favorable to him, as "post-liberal"--a technocrat who would solve problems through competence, rather than ideology. He did not successfully escape the label, obviously.

[All Along The Watchtower]

It meant being a n*gger lover, obviously.