"This week's composite poll includes the suspicious LA Times poll, showing a Kerry lead of 6 points. I discussed why it is suspicious here. Without that poll's results, the composite poll would show a dead even race."
Here's a critique of the LA Times poll from the Washington Times today.
"According to a statement from LA Times polling director Susan Pinkus yesterday, the political affiliation among the poll respondents was 38 percent Democratic, 25 percent Republican and 24 percent independent ...
Mr. Winston called the 13-point gap between Democrats and Republicans "a huge and unheard-of margin. It would usually be more like three or four points, with the Republicans falling in around 35 percent of the respondents."
I'm sure you understand the term "maverick"; however, drawing your samples from a liberal Democrat base might tend to skew your results and bias the survey just a tad!