State Sen. Michael Nozzolio made a shrewd political move this week by publicly calling on Gov. Eliot Spitzer to put up the same type of fight against state Thruway toll increases as he did for a similar proposal on public transportation tolls in New York City.

Nozzolio pointed to the governor's pledge to find $600 million for the New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

If Spitzer can make such a promise for New York City commuters, surely he owes the same effort to upstate travelers on the Thruway.

We agree with Nozzolio that the proposed toll increases on the Thruway are bad policy, and we also agree that the governor should come out and say so more directly.

Spitzer so far has publicly offered a “wait and see” approach to the proposal, citing a state comptroller audit of the Thruway Authority to determine if higher tolls are indeed needed.

But we're a little worried about one aspect of Nozzolio's move this week.

We hope he - and his Republican colleagues - are not attempting to put the entire Thruway toll plan fight on Spitzer's shoulders.

Every lawmaker also needs to join the fight and make the case against higher tolls directly to the Thruway Authority board.

The people who serve on that board have no allegiance to Spitzer - he has no appointees on it presently.

Many, however, were appointees of former Republican Gov. George Pataki.

Everyone knows party politics are paramount in Albany, and it sure seems like this particular board could be much more open to policy recommendations coming from members of the state Senate's Republican majority, including Nozzolio.

Ultimately, we hope both the governor's office and the Legislature find a way to work together to stop this increase from going through.