It may not have been apparent in the movie, but in the book, Sam was profoundly affected by the One Ring. I remember that the passage describing his brief sojourn in the tunnel adjacent to the one Frodo was in said something about his senses being enhanced, although a grey mist seemed to lie on everything. He also saw a vision of Mordor being turned to a large field of flowers, and himself wielding a flaming sword, as Samwise the Strong, Hero of the Age, leading an army to conquer Mordor. He was definitely tempted by the Ring, so in my mind, that more than qualifies him as a Ringbearer.
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But Melkor also was there, and he came to the house of Fëanor, and there he slew Finwë King of the Noldor before his doors, and spilled the first blood in the Blessed Realm; for Finwë alone had not fled from the horror of the Dark.
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