But few turned out on Thursday to see or shake hands with U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., in town to promote his book, Speaker: Lessons From Forty Years in Coaching and Politics.

In fact, staffers at Deseret Book in the ZCMI Center Mall confessed that many customers had "no clue" who the speaker was.

"He's the speaker of the House?" asked one woman. "Whose house?"

While the book signing may have been laughable, the true purpose of Hastert's visit was to provide some serious support to John Swallow, Republican candidate for Utah's 2nd Congressional District.

Swallow is lagging behind in recent polls, but political observers expect his race to be neck-and-neck with Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson.

And Swallow, for one, knows quite well who the speaker is and what his visit to Utah means to his campaign.

A little-publicized fund-raiser Hastert headlined was expected to bring in more than $100,000. It also should send a clear message to Utah Republicans about the "need to support" President Bush and the Republican agenda, according to Swallow.

"When you have a chance to bring the No. 1 leader of Congress to Utah to talk about Utah issues, it's really a privilege for us as a state," Swallow said.

"I believe this race is crucial to Republicans and the Republican agenda - the pro-family, pro-tax cut, pro-education, pro-personal rights agenda of the Republicans and George Bush."

In 2002, Swallow lost to Matheson by 1,641 votes - something Hastert says the nation's Republicans are focusing on as they push to gain and retain seats in the House of Representatives.

Last month, Vice President Dick Cheney came to Salt Lake City to host a fund-raiser for Swallow.

"There are 12 [House] seats of opportunity around the country, and this is one of them," Hastert said while signing copies of his autobiography at the downtown bookstore.

"We would be foolish not to look at this race and not give John the help he needs."

The fund-raiser Hastert headlined, held at the home of Ron Gunnell in Salt Lake City, was not open to the press. Matheson was unavailable for comment.

nwarburton@sltrib.com