Republicans are trying to win back political momentum in the government shutdown fight from Democrats, putting their rivals on the defensive and taking solace from polls showing Americans are starting to shift more blame to Democrats for the funding stalemate.

After struggling through a bad last week that highlighted their divisions on health care, Republicans have showed signs of regrouping.

They’ve forced Democrats to vote twice on a House-passed government funding measure without the political cover of also voting on an alternative Democratic proposal that funds the government and addresses rising health care insurance costs. Legislation to fund the government was again blocked in the Senate on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the Senate GOP will bring a major defense spending bill to the floor, daring Democrats to vote against it and underlining arguments the shutdown is hurting military families.

Democrats have argued that Republicans own the shutdown, since they have control of the White House and both chambers of Congress.

Yet the GOP is taking some positive signs from recent polls.

While more Americans blame Republicans than Democrats for the shutdown, some surveys show an uptick in the number of voters blaming Democrats.

An Economist/YouGov poll of 1,622 U.S. adults conducted Oct. 10-13 showed that while Americans were still more likely to blame Republicans for the shutdown, the gap between the two........

© The Hill