"The problem in Massachusetts isn't the lines, it's that we can't find anyone worthwhile to run."
Are you sure? I find that a little hard to believe, even in hardcore Dem Massachusetts.
Well, there are more factors than that. We don't have any chunks of Republican territory big enough to form a district, so every district is at least competitive for the Democrats, if not outright favoring them.
We've been decimated in the legislature. We have no bench. Conservatives run in the Democrat primaries because they have a better chance of getting elected to higher office. In the past, conservatives (albeit pro-union) ran the legislatures. No one knows what our party stands for because the Democrats stand for every conceivable opposing view.
So we have no bench, and after many years of failure to advance against Democrats, no good candidate thinks it's a good use of his money or name.