COLUMBUS - State Sen. Kevin Coughlin, R-Cuyahoga Falls, is showing the early signs of ambition-itis, a disease neither rare nor incurable among politicians.

Don't worry. It's most often treated with a run for higher office.

Coughlin is starting the first of his final four years in the Senate before term limits kick in.

Fortuitously, his upper chamber career will end the same year Republicans need to field candidates to run statewide for governor, secretary of state, treasurer and attorney general against Democratic incumbents.

First in the House and now the Senate, Coughlin has been a tireless, strong-minded, confident, opinionated and partisan legislator, well-versed and willing to debate the finer points of the issues of the day.

This year, he appears poised to step up his game by being one of the most outspoken and visible members of his party and caucus.

In doing so, he is collecting political chits from his legislative and party peers, strengthening ties to and support from his Republican constituencies, and, to use the political euphemism for grabbing headlines, earning media.

Recently, Coughlin pounced when Gov. Ted Strickland committed the first major gaffe of his formative administration. Commenting on the war in Iraq and whether Ohio should welcome that country's refugees, Strickland told the Associated Press ``I would not want to ask Ohioans to accept a greater burden than they have already borne for the Bush administration's failed policies.''

The governor was attacked for being insensitive, and he apologized.

Coughlin reacted with Senate Concurrent Resolution 1 that expresses support for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and President Bush in their efforts to assist displaced Iraqis.

Concurrent resolutions are not laws. They are used to send a message, and few would argue against the overall sentiment of Coughlin's legislative letter expressed to Bush, Congress, the U.N. agency and the news media of Ohio.

The U.N. estimates that 50,000 people a month are being forcibly moved from their homes, and 1.8 million -- or almost one in 13 Iraqis -- have been displaced; that number is expected to rise to 2.7 million by the end of this year.

The resolution points out that the United States will accept up to 7,000 Iraqi refugees. Many have helped our military, and their assistance has made them targets for violence in their country.

With those grave facts in mind, Coughlin's resolution confirmed Ohio's gratitude to the Iraqis and its commitment to aiding in finding homes and new lives for the refugees.

Initially, Coughlin didn't stop there. When he introduced the idea, it contained the following section: ``WHEREAS, Governor Ted Strickland has indicated his desire that no Iraqi refugees be resettled in Ohio. That sentiment does not accurately reflect the compassion or generosity of the people of the State of Ohio.''

Coughlin said he included the reference to Strickland because the governor's initial remarks made national and international headlines and portrayed Ohio as xenophobic.

The Senate voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt the resolution, but not before striking the line about Strickland.

Now, one might think the deletion occurred because Strickland had come to his senses and apologized, but Coughlin introduced the resolution on Feb. 20, six days after Strickland's initial statement and a day after the governor said he was sorry.

Sure, the resolution's language was already in the works, but a legislator can delay and change any legislation before formally introducing it.

Coughlin allowed the change, but not because Democrats squawked and refused to provide votes as long as the section remained. There are more than enough Republicans in the Senate to pass anything without votes from the minority party.

No, by the time the resolution hit the Senate floor, Coughlin's name and his criticism of Strickland had been in newspapers across the state.

Mission accomplished.