Republicans Settle on a Shutdown Message

“Republicans are seeking to paint Democrats as the ‘party of no’ to help dig themselves out of a hole on the government shutdown,” The Hill reports. “The effort is aimed at softening the political blow of the shutdown while buying Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) time to figure out an end game.”

“Polls show more people are blaming the GOP for the shutdown than the White House, but Republicans think their work on a stream of bills that would fund specific parts of the government is helping them build a narrative of Democratic intransigence.”

“A number of Republicans who have talked to House leadership in recent days say privately they largely stumbled into the strategy, and that there is no plan for how to end the shutdown. But they argue that by continuing their line of attack, the GOP can prevent major damage to its brand while seeking to win concessions from President Obama and Democrats on the shutdown and the debt ceiling.”