Emboldened Democrats dig in on health care demands in shutdown fight

Eight days into the government shutdown, Democrats believe the public and polling is on their side and are pushing for Obamacare funding to reopen the government.

WASHINGTON — Eight days into the government shutdown, Senate Democratic communications directors received a private briefing and a memo from pollster Geoff Garin.

The crux of the message: Stay the course because Democrats are winning the battle of public opinion.

“Voters continue to blame Trump and Republicans more than Democrats for the shutdown,” said the memo, which was obtained by NBC News and featured new polling data conducted by Hart Research, with findings that are backed by other public national surveys on the shutdown fight.

It added that voters are siding with Democrats’ health care funding demands, that Republicans are starting to "feel the heat” on the issue and that the GOP’s political pain will worsen “the longer and more aggressively” Democrats litigate it.

ACA subsidies set to expire, fueling government shutdown01:48The memo helps explain why Democrats are refusing to blink in the staring contest, defying predictions by the White House and Republican leaders that they would have backed down by now.