Kimberly Ahern, 24, of Providence, has a giant Obama poster in her dining room. She’s headed to the Democratic National Convention as an Obama delegate.

PROVIDENCE –– People like Kim Ahern may hold the 2008 election in their hands.

She’s 24, a Providence College graduate, a law student at Roger Williams University, and a veteran user of Internet social networking sites.

That puts her in the demographic group of college-educated, tech-savvy 18-to-24-year-olds that “turned out in substantial numbers” in the 2004 presidential election, and “is likely to turn out this time,” says Curtis Gans, director of the Center for the Study of the American Electorate, at American University, in Washington, D.C.

Four years ago, Ahern’s demographic group was motivated to vote by opposition to President Bush, and became the demographic subgroup to show the greatest gain in turnout, says Gans. Their motivation this year is more affirmative, he says.

“This group is largely taken with the Obama candidacy and is devoting considerable energy to his campaign,” he says.

Ahern is heading to Denver for the Democratic National Convention, as a Rhode Island delegate for Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., who will become the first African-American to be nominated for president by a major political party.

The youth vote has powered Obama’s presidential campaign since the Iowa caucuses in January, and he appears to have carried over a healthy lead among youthful voters into the general election. A Pew Research Center poll shows Obama leading Arizona Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, 58 percent to 34 percent among voters 18 to 29. The survey, conducted July 31 to Aug. 10, included voters contacted by cell phone. The poll’s margin of error was 2 percent.

Ahern says the Obama campaign has relentlessly courted young voters, in part by its embrace of social networking sites, such as Facebook.

“I’ve already joined a page on Facebook for convention delegates 25 years old and younger,” says Ahern. “Before I even get to Denver, I already know 40 people like me who are going to be there.”

In traveling the country on the stump, Obama frequently meets with the local youth leaders who have volunteered for the campaign, which Ahern says provides the sense that access to the candidate is not limited to large financial donors.

Rhode Island Democratic Chairman William Lynch says young voters bring “numbers and motivation” to a campaign.

“We have the best, most motivated group of young volunteers that I can remember,” he says.

Obama is expected to easily win Rhode Island’s four electoral votes in the November election –– as most Democratic presidential candidates would be expected to do. The benefits of an army of young, motivated volunteers may be more noticeable in Rhode Island House and Senate races, says Lynch.

“There’s so much attention paid to the presidential election, but it’s going to be a tremendous benefit down-ballot,” as the Obama voter-turnout machine targets Democratic and left-leaning voters to get them to the polls on Election Day, he says.

Brown University political science Prof. Jennifer Lawless, a former Democratic congressional candidate, says the university campus has provided a well of eager volunteers, which the candidates have used to their full advantage. Back in January, the campaigns of Obama and his former Democratic rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., would bus Brown students to New Hampshire to work as campaign volunteers before the Granite State’s all-important first-in-the-nation primary. The campaigns also used Brown students on Super Tuesday, and all the way to the Pennsylvania primary in April, Lawless said.

“Voters have liked the idea of young people coming to their doors all excited about a candidate,” she says.

As Ahern prepared for her trip to Denver –– from where she expected to file daily blog posts –– she was watching for a text message from the Obama campaign announcing Obama’s pick for a running mate. For many in the 18-to-24 age group, communicating by text message is as natural as talking. Obama is the first presidential candidate to announce a running mate by text.

“The new media has been critical” for the campaign, Michelle Obama, the candidate’s wife, said in a Journal interview in Providence last February. “Young people have shown us, if you know how to reach us and you give us a reason to come out, then we will come and we’ll come out in numbers.

“The technology moves so quickly that I feel like somebody’s grandmother when I’m talking to young staff members,” said Michelle Obama, who is 44.

Still, voters of any age “have to be motivated outside of the technology to go to the place where you can interact with the technology,” says Gans. That is the job of the candidate. Once a voter is motivated, “The Web sites have the ability to give people marching orders, things to do to help the campaign.”

Young voters are “a significant group,” says Gans. “Will they win it for [Obama]? Who the hell knows? Maybe it will be the blue-eyed, left-handed Puerto Ricans who win it for somebody.”

Democrats hold their national convention from Monday through Thursday, in Denver.

Republicans will nominate McCain at their national convention, Sept. 1-4, in Minneapolis.

marsenau@projo.com