A congressional candidate appeared last Sunday at a birthday party for Adolf Hitler. Yes, that Adolf Hitler.

"I told (WNDU-TV in South Bend, Ind.) in the beginning that I'd speak to any group that wanted me to speak," Tony Zirkle, a candidate for the Republican nomination in Indiana's 2nd district, tells The News-Dispatch, adding: "I'm keeping my promise. I'll speak to any group. (The National Socialist Workers Party) was interested in the targeting of white people for prostitution."

The lawyer addressed 56 "white activists" at a meeting in Chicago, according to the paper, which published a photo that shows him standing in front of a large portrait of Hitler.

We counted at least three swastikas in the photograph.

The Associated Press says Zirkle compared his decision to address the American National Socialist Workers Party to George Bush's decision to speak at Bob Jones University during the 2000 presidential election.

"Some people are going to impute motives and say things that I mean, but many of these people have never even talked to me. So their ability to say what I intended is not very credible," Zirkle tells the wire service.

Asked if he agrees with the Nazis' racist ideology, the News-Dispatch reports that Zirkle demurred, saying "he didn't know enough about the group to either favor it or oppose it."

One local Republican Party official says he knows enough about Zirkle.

“The ‘R’ next to Tony Zirkle’s name does not stand for Republican. It stands for ‘repulsive,'" Chris Riley, St. Joseph County GOP chairman, tells WSBT-TV. "The Republican Party stands for two basic principles: individual freedom and government accountability. Nazi socialism and fascism is the polar opposite of those two principles so for him to align himself with this puts him at the opposite end of the political spectrum from Republicans. And the visual images of Tony Zirkle standing in front of a Nazi flag are nauseating and repulsive."

Last month, Zirkle shared his views on race relations with the Kokomo Perspective. "Right now I am not calling for segregation, but at some point if the situation continually gets worse we are going to have to address the issue in an honest manner instead of silencing all challengers to the present situation," he was quoted as saying.

The Federal Elections Commission reports on its website that Zirkle hadn't raised any money as of March 31, 2007.

Update at 9:47 a.m. ET: Zirkle received 30% of the primary vote in 2006, according to the Secretary of State.

Update at 10:14 a.m. ET: Zirkle says that he looked at the group's website before the event and has no regrets about his decision to participate in a party honoring Hitler.

"They represented themselves as being different from some of the other white supremacist groups," he says, adding that he spoke about the role that people of various races and religions play in prostitution and pornography.

"I believe there's a clear difference between racism and culturalism," Zirkle says.

Last June, we reported that a website associated with this organization was targeting a Miami Herald columnist.