Independent Thinker?

So the other day I was talking with people about Kinky for govornor. I mentioned that I wasn't going to vote for him because I've done research and I think he's a nutjob. He implied that because I wouldn't vote for him I wasn't an independent thinker and I was incapable of voting for anyone that wasn't a democrat. (Let me note that this guy knew nothing about Kinky or any of his ideas) Now this just made me laugh. Because let me say that I take each candidate for what they are. I don't give a shit about the letter next to their name. What I care about is that they are HONEST, sincere, generally care about their constituents, and have the same ideals as me. (Treat people as I would want to be treated). That's all. They can be republican, democrat, independent, it doesn't matter to me. (in fact, I'd pretty much prefer that they weren't associated with a party, I don't want them to be forced to pander to anybody besides their constituents) This is in contrast to many people I know who only vote for people with that R next to their name and won't even investigate the democratic candidate. They just take the word of the republicans about the democrats, or make assumptions about democrats. Most of them don't even understand what it means to be a liberal or progressive. (Yes, I know this happens on the other side, I just don't know anybody like that, and the majority of people I know are the other way).