A new St. Louis Post-Dispatch poll finds former-Gov. George Ryan is more popular in Illinois than U.S. President Bush. Ryan faces sentencing this week.

The newspaper and KMOV-TV conducted its poll in both Democratic favoring Illinois and Republican leaning Missouri. The survey predicts that while Bush is less unpopular in Missouri, only 39 percent of state voters approve of his job performance and 56 percent do not.

A Maryland-based polling company called Research 200 surveyed 800 voters in each state.

Only 32 percent favored Bush In Illinois, while 35 percent had a favorable opinion of Ryan, also a Republican. Ryan had a significantly lower negative rating, 56 percent, compared to 67 percent for Bush.

The difference was within the poll's 3.5 percent standard of error.

Del Ali of Research 2000 says, "Some of the thinking may be, 'Ryan (convicted of corruption charges) can't hurt me anymore. Bush still can hurt me."

The survey pegged Iraq as a threat for Bush in Missouri and Illinois, as it is in the rest of the country. Just over half of those polled in Missouri now say that the invasion of Iraq has not been worth the cost.

Nearly two-thirds of those in Illinois however agree. Majorities in both states favor starting to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq.