Boy, talk about being off-script. Today is supposed to be the day for the press to wallow in the collapse of Obama's first term; to pronounce his presidency a failure in light of the Massachusetts defeat Tuesday night.

But wouldn't you know it, the AP goes and releases a poll that shows Obama enjoying a robust 56 percent job approval rating. Technically, that's not a bump, since the same AP poll had Obama at the same spot last month as well. But the results are certainly good news for Obama, considering that 56 percent practically doubles the approval rating of Obama's predecessor during his second term. That 56 percent also puts Obama comfortably ahead of where Ronald Reagan was at this juncture of his first term, and just about where Bill Clinton stood 13 months into office.

But that's not the story the press wants to tell, so look for the AP results to get scant coverage. Because as we've seen for months now, only the polls that show Obama's popularity declining are deemed to be truly newsworthy.