To borrow an old phrase: If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck…

The ducks in question are four Loudoun Republicans trying to hide their identities by claiming they are Independents or failing to reveal their political affiliation in the upcoming Loudoun County School Board races. And yet, if you pull back the curtain by looking at their finances – they each got $3,500 from the “Loudoun Republican Party” – and listening carefully to the “dog whistles” they employ, their pedigree is clear.

Specifically, the four Republican-endorsed/Republican-funded candidates are running against April Moore Chandler in the Algonkian District, Ross Svenson in Broad Run, Jon Pepper in Dulles, and Arben Istrefi in Sterling. April, Ross, Jon, and Arben, unlike their solidly GOP opponents, have no fear revealing their affiliations as Democrats both on their websites and on the stump.

So, why do you suppose their challengers all fail to acknowledge their GOP-roots and GOP-financed campaigns? It seems an unlikely coincidence. Seriously, are they that frightened to be associated with Trump’s ruination of American democracy, free speech, due process, and the rest of the principles our Founders held dear? Are they frightened of the Blue Wave coming to Loudoun County and more generally across Virginia this Nov. 4?

Granted, none of the School Board candidates, no matter their actual affiliations, have a D or an R next to their names on the ballot – as mandated by state law – but in past years candidates didn’t duck and cover to hide their party associations. 

Looking over the financial records at https://www.vpap.org/, it becomes clear that the Loudoun Republican Party, its affiliates and friends are the financiers of these “Independent candidates,” and if you visit the candidates’ websites, you will find the usual collection of seemingly innocuous catch phrases, which have deeper meaning when employed by the political right. 

For example, when they use phrases like “protecting parental rights” are they actually seeking to protect all parents’ rights or just the right-wing practice of banning books containing inconvenient truths about America’s history? Or, when they use the old dog whistle about “protecting our values” do they really mean the entire community’s values or do they mean barring from the curriculum any “values” that aren’t strictly white, Christian, and heterosexual?

Arben Istrefi’s Republican-backed opponent makes urgent-sounding protestations, such as arguing for “sound educational principles over political agendas,” when, in fact, what she’s promoting is a right-wing, MAGA-style political agenda.

There’s nothing wrong with trying to demonstrate some independence of thought or independence from the crowd; but when you claim to be an independent as you march in lockstep with the dictates of the MAGA-dominated Republican Party, that’s simply lying to voters.