Looking at the list of the upcoming primaries, it seems to me that the most critical of all may be the one we've talked about least: Missouri.
Of course, everyone was assuming that Missouri was Gephardt country. Now it's wide open, and it's the biggest prize in terms of delegates of the next round.
More important, Missouri is a microcosm of what the Democratic candidate has to win in November. It's a fairly big, diverse Midwestern swing state. Like key states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania, it is divided between two big cities with sizeable minority populations, and an archconservative Republican center. It's been trending Republican but is still winnable for the right Democrat, and the primary may go a long way to identifying for us who that right Democrat might be.
Another thought: Gephardt for VP? He has a wealth of experience, the gravitas to be Vice Presidential and even President if necessary, high name recognition, no one really hates him, he has ties to blue-collar, Reagan-Democrat households, and he is perhaps the most prominent national leader from a medium-to-large, winnable swing state. He'd especially be an asset to an "outsider" like Clark or Dean.