A new CNN/Opinion Research Corp poll shows President Obama's approval rating slipping over the past two weeks. In the current survey, taken February 18-19, 67% approve of the job Obama is doing as president while 29% disapprove.

In CNN's last poll, taken from February 7-8, Obama's approval and disapproval ratings were 76% and 23%, respectively. That's a 15-point net swing in the last ten days.

Overall, Obama's job approval rating in the RCP Average is 63.2%.

Other notables from the CNN poll: 74% say Obama has met or exceeded their expectations thus far, 60% approve of the stimulus package, 49% say the stimulus is a major victory for the Obama administration, 53% think it will result in a "significant improvement" in the US economy though 67% don't think don't think it will result in "significant improvement" for them personally.

Aaron Friedberg says the U.S. is endanger of losing its predominant status in Asia because of Chinese defense advancements:

After nearly two decades of double digit increases in defense spending, China is beginning to acquire capabilities that could pose a serious challenge to our long-standing position as Asia's preponderant military power. Unless we respond in a prudent and timely fashion, we could find that our commitments to defend our friends and interests in the region are no long regarded as credible. Over time this could eat away at the foundations of our alliances and diminish our ability to deter conflict.

Friedberg's has been the conventional wisdom in Washington when it comes to the disposition of America's defenses. Like all conventional wisdom, it's high time to reexamine it. It's unnatural for the U.S. to be the predominant military power in Asia (see: map) and China's investment in her military capabilities is a natural reflection of this and her growing economy. Insofar as it's a "long-standing" U.S. position to be the dominant military power in Asia, it was one born of the Cold War imperative to deny the Soviet Union access to Asia's industrial capacity and out of a justified fear that a re-militarized Japan would go on another imperial rampage. It was, in other words, a means to an end - not an end of itself.

Both of the threats that propelled America's military dominance in Asia are gone. Yet it remains important that the balance of Asian power favors the kind of open, international system in which both America and Asia, have thrived. The real question is whether China poses a threat to that system akin to the Soviet Union. To date I think we can conclude that they are not a threat to world order, and let's credit the Bush administration and Robert Zoellick for working to make China a "stakeholder" in the system.

Still, there's uncertainty as to how China will behave as she accumulates even more power and so it's necessary to hedge.

But rather than focus on the unsustainable, unnatural, and undesirable goal of being the lone Asian hegemon, the U.S. should, as Michael Lind suggests, ensure that the combined weight of America and her Asian allies stays well ahead of any state that wishes to overturn the balance to our detriment.

As Elbridge Colby has observed, an essential component of this strategy is to incentivize our Asian allies to invest more in their own defenses. That's not done by continuing to divert more American tax dollars to the Pentagon, but by quietly stepping back and forcing our allies to shoulder more responsibility.

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New Fox News/Opinion Dynamics survey shows 60% approving of the job Obama is doing as president, while 26% disapprove. That's a fairly significant shift from Fox's last poll four weeks ago, when Obama's approval was at 65% and disapproval at 20%.

Congress's job approval is at 39%, which is a higher rating that you'll find in other polls but is basically unchanged from Fox's Jan 27-28 poll which had it at 40%. Though both parties in Congress improved their ratings over the last month, Democrats continue to hold a substantial advantage over their counterparts.  46% approve of the job Congressional Democrats are doing (+10% vs. last month) while 34% approve of the job of Congressional Republicans (+4%).

A new Research2000 poll finds Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) leading two potential Republican challengers in a 2010 Senate race by double-digit margins (Feb. 16-18, 600 LV, MoE +/- 4%). The GOP candidates tested against Murray were Rep. Dave Reichert (WA-8) and Attorney General Rob McKenna.

Murray 53
Reichert 40
Und 7

Murray 55
McKenna 39
Und 6

Murray has represented Washington state in the Senate since 1992, and the survey finds her with a 55% favorability rating, with 40% unfavorable. President Obama currently has a 66%-21% favorability rating.

If you haven't seen video of CBNC's Rick Santelli going off on President Obama's mortgage plan and calling for a "new Tea Party" this morning on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade, you can find it here.

The latest 2010 North Carolina Senate race survey from PPP finds Sen. Richard Burr (R) polling below 50% against two little-known Democrats -- Jim Neal, who finished a distant second to Kay Hagan in the 2008 Senate primary, and former State Sen. Cal Cunningham.

Burr 44
Neal 30

Burr 46
Cunningham 27

Matched up against Atty Gen. Roy Cooper (D) in a December poll, PPP found Cooper leading 39%-34%.

Democrats had a good year in North Carolina in 2008. Barack Obama won the state (by three-tenths of a point); Kay Hagan knocked off Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole; and Larry Kissell defeated five-term Rep. Robin Hayes, giving Dems eight of the 13 House districts.

Just as President Obama is readying an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan, former State Department official Philip Zelikow suggests we open up a can of North Korean worms by interrupting their reportedly imminent long range missile test by bombing it on the launch pad. Such a move would not only squash their nascent and intolerable long-range missile threat, Zelikow said, but would also send a message to other would-be proliferators.

Of course, it's not all upside:

The downside, as in 2006, is the possibility of North Korean escalation against South Korea. The United States must consider its own security, the security of its Japanese ally, and the security of its South Korean ally. Ideally, all should arrive at a common understanding of what must be done to protect their long-term security.

In keeping with precedent, I suspect that Obama will err on the side of not re-starting the Korean War.

I wonder why Zelikow thinks that the South Koreans, who have been reluctant to pressure North Korea too hard lest the country destabilize, would nonetheless sign on to a U.S. bombing run which could easily result in the shelling of their capital (and do untold damage to an already battered global economy). Why run such a huge risk when we can tell the North, publicly and repeatedly, that any missile launched against the U.S. would result in their destruction?

But I think Zelikow's final sentence is the more telling. Ultimately, while there is broad agreement that the North should not possess nuclear weapons, there is a fundamental divergence between America and South Korea (and China) on North Korea. Both the Chinese and the South Koreans seem to put a higher premium on regime stability than they do on denuclearization. As crazy and dangerous as the Dear Leader is, he's the devil they all know, and steps that would plausibly lead to regime change (such as a blockade) never fly.

This is ultimately why South Korea and China have to take the lead on North Korea. It's their cities down range of artillery and it's their borders over which tens if not hundreds of thousands of refugees could come stampeding over.

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New polling suggests that New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine faces a difficult challenge for re-election this year. A Monmouth University poll released last week shows that just 34% of Garden State voters approve of the job Corzine is doing, compared to 51% who disapprove. Another recent survey shows that Republican Chris Christie, who as the state's hard-charging U.S. attorney has pursued a number of high-profile corruption cases, is leading the Democrat 44% to 38%.

In Virginia, the only other state holding a gubernatorial election this year, Democrats face an uphill battle against former state Attorney General Bob McDonnell. A Rasmussen survey conducted on Feb. 4 had McDonnell leading each of his three potential rivals, state Sen. Creigh Deeds, former state Delegate Brian Moran and former DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe. None is as well known statewide as McDonnell, who will watch from the sidelines until the Democratic primary on June 9.

Circumstances in both states could certainly change by November. But more than the strength of Republican candidates, there's a unique historical pattern that should have Democrats concerned. Since 1989, the party that has controlled the White House has lost gubernatorial elections in each state.

That year, George H.W. Bush's first as president, New Jersey's Jim Florio and Virginia's Doug Wilder won their respective races. Republicans took back the offices in the two following elections, as Democrat Bill Clinton served in the White House. But the pendulum swung again in 2001 and 2005, when George W. Bush served as president.

Strategists in both national parties typically pay additional attention to these contests every four years. With only a handful of elections scheduled in the "off-year," these two key gubernatorial contests are often spun as a measure of the parties' strength heading into midterm election years.

Control of the state offices is considered an even greater priority in the coming years because of the role governors will play in shaping redistricting decisions after the 2010 census.

Visit RCP's Politics Nation for more on Congress and the Obama administration.

New Quinnipiac University poll in Florida shows that in the 2010 race for the United States Senate, the Democratic primary is wide open while Governor Crist remains the 800-lb gorilla on the Republican side as he mulls whether to jump into the Senate race or seek another term as Governor:

Democrats
Iorio 16%
Meek 16%
Klein 14%
Gelber 5%
Don't Know 43%

Republicans (w/out Crist)
Mack 34%
Buchanan 11%
Rubio 6%
Bense 4%
Don't Know 38%

Republicans (w/Crist)
Crist 53%
Mack 13%
Buchanan 5%
Rubio 3%
Bense 2%
Don't Know 21%

Crist has a 67% job approval rating as governor and a 68% favorable rating. In the Governor's race, Crist beats a generic Democrat by 23 points, 48 to 25.

Forty-one percent think Crist should run for another term as Governor, 22% think he should run for the Senate and 19% don't know/don't care/are undecided.

A new PPP poll in North Carolina finds President Obama and Gov. Bev Perdue (D) improving on the approval ratings of their predecessors (Feb. 13-15, 1020 RV).

Obama has a 52%/41% approval-disapproval rating in North Carolina, with most Democrats (82%) and few Republicans (12%) approving of the job he's doing. Independents split, with 46% approving and 45% disapproving. President Bush's final approval rating was 41%.

After a month in office, 43% approve of Perdue's performance and 32% disapprove. Former Gov. Mike Easley's (D) final approval ratings was at 33%.