How many people are going to repeat John McCain’s absurd claim that his support for the troop surge in Iraq almost cost him the GOP nomination? Here’s Tom Friedman parroting the claim:

I respected McCain’s willingness to support the troop surge in Iraq, even if it was going to cost him the Republican nomination. Now the same guy, who would not sell his soul to win his party’s nomination, is ready to sell every piece of his soul to win the presidency.

As Andres Martinez points out on the Washington Post’s website, however, the issue that almost cost McCain his party’s nomination was immigration, not Iraq. Show me any evidence that the surge cost McCain votes in the GOP primaries. Does Friedman know anything about the Republican party? Indeed, McCain attacked Mitt Romney for supporting timetables for withdrawing from Iraq (often mischaracterizing Romney’s position in doing so).