DEMOCRATIC STRATEGISTS IN RECENT MONTHS approached officials at the party’s main Senate super PAC to discuss a bank-shot idea for flipping control of the Senate: quietly backing independent candidates in traditionally Republican states.

The strategy is highly sensitive. Any public acknowledgement that the Democratic political infrastructure is, in fact, backing non-Democrats risks angering the party’s base and ruining the aura of independence of the candidates the party is surreptitiously trying to help. Any involvement, should it come, would likely be done late in the cycle and with minimum disclosure.

Still, operatives have pinpointed states where they think the approach might work, according to two people familiar with the conversations. The list includes Nebraska, Iowa, and Alaska, all of which are hosting Senate contests this year in what could end up being Democrats’ best chance at denying Republicans another majority.

The discussions happening between Senate Majority PAC and other party leaders underscore just how difficult the Senate map is for Democrats this cycle. And it is another indication that top officials recognize their brand is badly damaged among a wide swath of the country.

However, some of these Democratic officials thinking about next year’s midterms have reached another, more dire conclusion.