When One Bad Poll For Obama = Big News

A new poll from Quinnipiac University is making headlines this week. Why? Because it shows Obama's approval rating at a low point of 42 percent. And when a single poll (and possibly outlier) shows Obama's approval rating going down, that's news!

From The New York Daily News:

President Obama's approval ratings hit all-time low, half don't think he deserves second term: poll

From Politico:

Poll: Obama's approval hits new low

From The Hill:

Survey: Obama's approval rating at all-time low 42 percent

News organizations all agree: The Quinnipiac poll is a big deal. But for context, here's a look at all the Obama approval rating polling results currently listed at PollingReport.com, for the month of March:

-CBS: 49%

-CNN: 51%

-Fox: 49:%

-CNN: 50%

-ABC/Washington Post: 51%

-Allstate/National Journal: 49%

-Bloomberg: 51%

-Ipsos/Reuters: 49%

And here's a very recent result, not listed by PollingReport.com:

-Gallup: 49%

For the month of March, Obama's approval rating has been quite consistent (average: 50%), just as it's been for nearly the last 18 months. But when the Quinnipiac poll came out and broke with that trend, and broke with the trend in a negative direction, suddenly that single poll was big news.