Slow-pitch softball from CNS with conservative all-stars at the convention. Wishful thinking on Newt’s (and Mark Steyn’s) part? Maybe not:

Over half of U.S. voters (51%) think reporters are trying to hurt Sarah Palin with their news coverage, and 24% say those stories make them more likely to vote for Republican presidential candidate John McCain in November…

In the new survey, while 24% are more likely to vote for Palin due to recent news coverage, 19% say the opposite and 54% say the stories have no impact on their votes…

Eighty percent (80%) of Republicans say reporters are trying to hurt the GOP vice presidential nominee, and 28% of Democrats agree.

The poll was taken before her speech so that 24/19 split is set to widen a bit, although I suspect the people saying they’re more likely to vote for her now were, like HA readers, already firmly committed to the ticket before the coverage got rolling on Monday. Much depends on where that 19 percent comes from, needless to say. Meanwhile, women voters see her as having been subjected to a sexist double standard to the tune of 48/35, which puts their opinion squarely in line with, er, Joe Biden’s (“I just think some of the stuff said has been over the top, totally unfair, and has been sexist and I think the way the governor has handled it has been admirable.”) Obama shill Roger Simon can’t for the life of him understand what everyone’s upset about, so Slublog helpfully clues him in. And yes, when I call him a shill, I’m using the term advisedly. Click the image to watch.