I think it shows how ridiculous a Worcester-based district looks if you insist on keeping two districts to the west of it, but otherwise, it's not absurd. The leader of the committee in charge of redistricting is from Amherst, so I suppose the die is cast about letting western Mass avoid the axe for the third dropped district in a row. My guess is that if the 8th is broken up, instead of connecting Cambridge and Somerville to the 6th as in this map, they get put in the 7th and I have Ed Markey as a Congressman. In that case, the 7th contracts a lot and the 6th picks up some more northern suburbs. I guess the rest of Boston goes to the (current) 9th, which makes for an interesting primary for Steve Lynch.
Assuming Capuano runs for Senate, you might want to give Cambridge to Barney Frank. Frank will likely retire before 2020, and Sean Bielat was extremely strong in 2010. He'll probably be back when the seat is open. Somerville should probably go to Tierney (no need to have Cambridge and Somerville in the same district anymore). Furthermore, you can move Keating's district NW into the Boston suburbs and potentially have a Cape Cod to Fall River seat.
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