George Bush made the comment read your lips what was he referring to?

Answer 1

And I'm the one who will not raise taxes. My opponent now says he'll raise them as a last resort, or a third resort. But when a politician talks like that, you know that's one resort he'll be checking into. My opponent, my opponent won't rule out raising taxes. But I will. And the Congress will push me to raise taxes and I'll say no. And they'll push, and I'll say no, and they'll push again, and I'll say, to them, 'Read my lips: no new taxes.'

- George H. W. Bush, at the 1988 Republican National Convention

Bush's promise has gone down in history as one of the most disastrous ever campaign promises. It was made assuming that the good economic growth of the late 1980s would continue during his Presidency. Instead, the economy went into a recession in 1990. After initially resisting pressure from the Democratic-controlled Congress, Bush eventually agreed to tax raises.

Although the issue was initially swept aside by the Gulf War, it returned to haunt Bush in 1992 when he was challenged in a Primary by Pat Buchanan. After he was nominated, Bush's final opponent was Bill Clinton, who used the broken pledge to suggest Bush was untrustworthy. Clinton won the election.

Conservative pundits later voiced the opinion that Bush would have been easily reelected if had kept to his word. On the other hand, the Democrats and Bush's economic advisor Richard Darman believed that Bush's mistake was the promise, not the decision.