“Facing slim prospects in rural red states, Democrats are embarking on a new tactic to expand the Senate map: encouraging doomed nominees to drop out of races to empower independent candidates to take on Republicans one-on-one,” NBC News reports.“Democrats see it as a win-win situation, arguing that even if the independent candidates lose, the one-on-one matchups could spook Republicans into steering money away from competitive races to hold on to deep-red states.”