Cindy Sheehan has almost single-handedly started the anti-war movement for the Iraq debacle; moreover, she put an end to the free pass Chimpy was getting post-9/11. She's done so much to this party, to this country, and even to dailykos, that it's hard to imagine where we'd be without her. She started the process of giving the Democrats the fight they somehow had lost. We owe her more than we can say.
Having said all that...her running as an independent is dead wrong.
Cindy, if you want a "better" Democratic party, reform it from within. If you think your ideas are better than the status quo --- and some of them are, though maybe not all of them --- then run as a reform Democrat. If your ideas are good, people will flock to them. There is room for leaders on our party.
Running as an independent, though, will only make it easier for people whose policies you hate get elected.
To be honest, I don't see much difference between your candicacy and that of Ralph Nader: he might have made a good president, and maybe even a better president than Gore, but the truth is: he had his own role to play in getting the current regime elected. He may have had ideals and nobility of cause, and even a true desire to serve the country. However, those ideas were not tempered with how our political process works.
There are several reasons why Bush was elected in 2000, and ways where Al Gore cost himself an election. However, one truth is, Bush would not have been elected if Ralph Nader didn't run. His political naivete enabled the catastrophe that is the Bush presidency. (If he ran to make a point --- for example, that the Republicans and Democrats are really not that different --- then he has his own growing up to do. Yes, our system is corrupted with corporate money; yes, it needs reform. But would we be where we are now with a Gore presidency?) I think people underestimated how quickly an evil (a word I choose with great care) man can bring down a country, given the right curcumstances.
You clearly have ideals and nobility of cause, and you have sacrificed so much for our country already. You have also shown great courage in the face of so much ridicule. But you have to know that to enter the party as an independent may get your voice heard, but possibly at a greater cost to what you want to accomplish and what you stand for.
If you disagree with Pelosi, challenge her in a primary. Dividing the Democratic Party will not accomplish any of your goals; it will only further the agenda of war and hatred. To do otherwise is both self-serving and unforgiveable.