INDIANAPOLIS (AP) —Indiana House Speaker Patrick Bauer said Friday that he endorsed Democrat Hillary Clinton for president at the request of Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh and because he believes it could lead to Bayh becoming the vice presidential nominee.

When asked if Bayh told him that Clinton's nomination would help him become her running mate, Bauer said, "I can't say he said that exactly, but I know that's the case."

When asked exactly what he did say, Bauer said, "I think he says she's going to win and that he is very close to her and they work well together and hope to work very well together in the future."

Bayh endorsed Clinton last month, saying she was a "seasoned, experienced leader who will be ready to lead this country on day one." But he dismissed speculation that part of his motivation for endorsing Clinton was to enhance his odds of being chosen running mate.

Bayh spokesman Jonathan Swain said it did not appear that Bauer, D-South Bend, was saying the senator mentioned anything about vice president. He said Bayh was not asking anyone to endorse Clinton by saying anything about vice presidential aspirations.

"He is certainly flattered that the Speaker and others would think this highly of him," Swain said. "A decision (for running mate) is far beyond his or anybody else's control. He's going to continue to do the best job he can for Hoosiers in the Senate."

Several political analysts and observers say Bayh is likely to be considered as Clinton's running mate if she gets the nomination. It would give the ticket a centrist Democrat and a former, popular governor from a Republican-leaning state.

The Clinton campaign announced Monday that Bauer, former Indiana House Speaker John Gregg, former Indiana first lady Judy O'Bannon and four other big-name Democrats in Indiana had signed up to become co-chairs of her campaign in the state.

Gregg said Friday that he did not want to comment on whether he spoke to Bayh about endorsing Clinton. But he said the possibility of Bayh becoming vice president under her was a major factor in his decision.

"I think if he is vice president it would help the state of Indiana from an economic development standpoint and every other standpoint," Gregg said.

Indiana is regarded as one of the safest states for Republican presidential nominees, since a Democratic one has not won here since Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

But Bayh was wildly popular as a two-term governor from 1989 to early 1997, was easily elected to his first term in the Senate in 1998 and sailed to re-election in 2004.

State Rep. Dave Crooks, D-Washington, said recently that Clinton as the nominee would be a drag on state Democrats in the 2008 election. He said many of his party colleagues agreed with him, but would not say so publicly.

"She is just so polarizing," he said, adding that she could cost state Democrats here three or four percentage points in the next election. He said Bayh as her running mate might "stop some of the bleeding," but he still did not think they could win Indiana.

Bauer said he thought it was not only possible that team could win Indiana, "I think it might even move up to very possible." That is what mostly led to his decision to endorse Clinton, he said.

Bauer said Clinton had proven herself to be competent, as had Democratic hopefuls John Edwards, Sen. Barack Obama and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. He said he liked Clinton before Bayh's endorsement request, but was not necessarily leaning her way.

"I just think the nominee appears to be Hillary, and if Evan Bayh is on the ticket we could win," he said.