[Torie]

The Dems made the Morella seat substantially more Dem by playing with the bounderies at the margin, where the precinct behavior varied hugely. The map masks it all. The Dems with some insanely erose map, could have bagged the Gilchrist east shore district, and left Morella in place until she lost because she was Republican, like in 2006, but there was no practical way, as you suggest, to dislodge the the Republicans from the Bartlett district, without discommoding other Dems, like Cardin, and creating some more "erosity." Far west Maryland is very heavily GOP and geographically rather distant.

[HostileTerritory]

Ping to my #51 for precinct analysis, but only if you have the time and knowledge readily available. I've always wondered why this map had to look so awful.