Mainstream media keeps saying Democrats have 'upper hand' in shutdown, yet it's Trump's fault

There are two conflicting narratives floating around on mainstream media. That’s not uncommon, but when both narratives are invoked in the same reports, it makes no sense. Then again, not making sense seems to be the only thing that makes any sense in today’s mainstream media.
The first narrative is that the Democrats have the upper hand in negotiations over the partial government shutdown. It’s one of those talking points that are circulated to DC and media elites in order to build a nonsensical narrative that can’t be challenged since many are saying it. Nobody knows exactly what it means but it must be good for the Democrats, right? Upper hand is a good thing to have, after all.
But in the same breath they say the shutdown is the President’s fault. This is equally absurd, though for different reasons. The President’s proposal for border wall funding is no different from past calls by the same Democrats who now oppose it. This narrative stipulates that the President must abandon his goals, the promises he made to the American people, and pure common sense in order for the shutdown to end.
How can one side have the upper hand while the other side is getting all the fault? If the Democrats truly do have the upper hand, that means they have it within their power to help end the shutdown. If they have some of the power to end the shutdown, the fault cannot lie in the President alone.
Personally, I do blame both sides for the shutdown. It’s not just the President, though. The GOP should have flexed their muscles when they had the time and the majorities to make it happen. Some will say they couldn’t do it because they didn’t have the numbers, but if that’s the case they should have brought it to a vote well before the current CR and forced the Democrats to go on record blocking it.
I would go so far as to say the Republicans could have retained control o the House of Representatives had they pushed for the border wall well before the election. With Democrats blocking it, they would have had something valid to rally the votes.