KENNEBUNK — He was in Iowa last fall. He was on the ground in New Hampshire in January. Now, Ben Goodman's dream is to be a Barack Obama delegate representing Maine this August at the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

But first he has to finish high school.

"I think I've got pretty good odds," Goodman, 18, said after class Thursday as he looked ahead to this weekend's state Democratic convention in Augusta. "But it is going to be an uphill battle."

If you're looking for proof that Obama has indeed energized a new generation of voters, look no further than this clean-cut Kennebunk High School senior with a firm handshake, a quick smile and an appetite for politics that surpasses even his love for the Boston Red Sox.

"Since I was a little kid, it's always been a dream of mine to attend the Democratic National Convention," Goodman writes on www.benjamingoodman.com. "I can recall, as a 10-year-old, watching Joe Lieberman -- back when he was a good guy -- accept the vice presidential nomination, and deeply wishing I was there."

Joe Lieberman?

"He's Jewish -- and so are we," explained Goodman.

Times, of course, have changed since Lieberman was the darling of the Dems back in 2000. But as the senator from Connecticut has moved away from his erstwhile party, so has young Goodman embraced it.

His ever-evolving resume includes Students for Barack Obama (for which he is both Northeast regional coordinator and Maine high school director), the Maine Legislative Youth Advisory Council and Maine Youth in Government (he was youth governor in 2006-07).

He led a five-car caravan of high school kids from Kennebunk to New Hampshire on primary day in January, traversing that state and witnessing Obama's "Yes We Can" speech in Nashua before arriving home inspired and exhausted at 3 a.m. the next day.

Last fall, he traveled to Des Moines for a national Students for Barack Obama High School Summit, where he mixed big-idea thinking with a few hours at the phone banks.

"Think about it," Goodman said. "You get a caucus in a heavily Republican district where maybe 10 Democrats normally show up. Get 20 high school kids there and you've just won it for Obama."

Red, blue or in between, it's hard not to love this kid. Still, with only 32 seats in Maine's national delegation, you can't help but wonder whether he can edge out all those diehards in Augusta this weekend who really, really want to go to Denver.

"I think he's got a very good shot," said Arden Manning, executive director of the Maine Democratic Party, noting that Goodman exemplifies "our efforts to energize young people."

Besides, Goodman is used to long shots. On his first day as a freshman at Kennebunk High, he showed up sporting a Kerry-Edwards shirt and a burning desire -- against many a peer warning -- to get the "senior jocks" to vote that November.

"Kids kept saying, 'Don't go near them! Don't go near them!"' he recalled. "So the next day, I showed up with talking points."

And?

"They all voted," Goodman said. "Maybe they did it just to shut me up, but they all voted."

Send that man to Denver.

Columnist Bill Nemitz can be contacted at 791-6323 or at:

bnemitz@pressherald.com