Not all victories are obvious:

Of all the things mentioned in Eliot Spitzer’s State of the State Address, the one that stood out the most was his pledge not to raise taxes.

Since the beginning of his campaign, taxes have been a favorite topic among Republicans when it came to attacking Spitzer. Spitzer’s early silence on the issue and his refusal to rule out raising them gave Republicans, no matter how futile their chances of winning, something to rally around.

As projected Spitzer won and Republicans around the State viewed the whole election as a complete fiasco with nothing to show for it. Yesterday’s speech though did give Republicans something to be proud of. Spitzer’s bold claim that he won’t raise taxes might never have occurred if Republicans didn’t constantly claim Spitzer would raise them if elected.

If Spitzer appears to be anything, it’s the type of person who will do something out of spite to prove you wrong. So if Republicans spent months telling New Yorker’s he would raise taxes, he will do whatever he can to prove them wrong, so they can’t come back and say we told you so. Spitzer might think his refusal to raise taxes is a victory over Republicans who said he would. I say it’s a victory for Republicans who kept him from doing it.