I don't consider myself to be democrat, thus I am not one, correct?
I voted for Tom Campbell in the primary and I certainly would have considered voting for him in the general. The national Republican party really scares me though, so maybe not. Definitely would have raised the level of discourse in the senate if he had been elected and Boxer defeated. I would have most likely voted for Campbell for the governor's race, if he had stuck with it and won the primary. The problem is that the Republicans never nominate a candidate I can vote for. And many of their candidates in other parts of the country really piss me off. If that makes me a Democrat, then so be it.
Yes, it does. There's a reason why you're criticizing only the Republican party. That's why I'm not buying into your being an "independent". You may not be a Democrat on paper, but you have too much in common with them, so I can't really consider you an independent.