You are right about the (reincarnation of Sun Tzu) thing.
If the endorsement doesn't look like enough against Bush in the polls, Hillary jumps in as Presidential candidate or poor/puppet Clark's VP.
We'll see.
New York would lose her as senator if she won, but as VP she could break ties in the Senate with her vote and this vote would always benefit the people of New York. She'll say New York will have two and a half votes in the Senate in a way.
Also, she will likely say that if the Clark/Clinton ticket wins all Americans win- New Yorkers as well.
If she's lucky, her PR people will be able to spin things so that during the campaign some people might groan and think to themselves "Oh, not this Whitewater/Monica sh!t again..." The GOP should be very careful in how they select themes from the Clinton years to bring up again. Overdo it and it could backfire with the public.
Also, what they really need to do is stop him from running on a third ticket- which he is somewhat threatening to do. A simple endorsement won't be enough to stop him from doing so. They'll have to dig up some good dirt on him to make his candidacy unviable for any party. If Dean runs on a third ticket, the dems wouldn't have a chance in hell of winning.