In this 2008 file photo, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton addresses party faithful at the Midwest Express Center in Milwaukee. Unlike 2008, Clinton arrives here as the odds-on nominee, and in command of the Democratic delegate race. Credit: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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Eight years after her demoralizing 17-point loss to Barack Obama here, Hillary Clinton returns to Wisconsin hoping for a better outcome this time.

Clinton campaigns Monday in Madison and Milwaukee, and Tuesday in Milwaukee, La Crosse and Green Bay.

Unlike 2008, Clinton arrives here as the odds-on nominee, and in command of the Democratic delegate race.

But Wisconsin remains a challenge, and rival Bernie Sanders is coming off lopsided wins in three caucuses Saturday: Washington state, Alaska and Hawaii.

“Right now, we have a lot of momentum. We're focusing on Wisconsin, New York state. We have a path to victory,” Sanders said on NBC’s “Meet The Press” Sunday.

Sanders is marshaling much of the same coalition Obama did against Clinton here.

Eight years ago in Wisconsin, Clinton lost men to Obama by 36 points, voters under 30 by 44 points and independents by 31 points, according to exit polls.

This year, she trails Sanders with those very same groups in Wisconsin polls, while leading with women, voters over 50, and partisan Democrats.

But the fault lines in the party aren’t entirely the same today as they were in 2008.

African-American voters backed Obama against Clinton in 2008, but now favor Clinton over Sanders. Clinton plans to campaign in Milwaukee’s African-American community Monday night and Tuesday morning, where she’ll appear at a forum on gun violence prevention.

Two more fault lines have emerged this year that weren’t there in the ‘08 Wisconsin primary: ideology and religion. Clinton leads with moderates, Sanders with liberals. Clinton leads handily with regular churchgoers, and Sanders leads easily with non-churchgoers, according to polling this year by the Marquette Law School.

Clinton’s defeat eight years ago in Wisconsin – Obama won 58% to 41% -- marked one of the low points of her campaign, coming after big losses in Maryland and Virginia and before she bounced back in Ohio and Texas a few weeks later.

She won only 10 of 72 counties. She lost the state’s two monster Democratic counties, Milwaukee and Dane, by 28 and 36 points.

Her struggles were epitomized by a February blizzard that wiped out the biggest campaign day on her Wisconsin schedule, a fly-around to the state’s major media markets.

The Sanders campaign views Wisconsin as promising turf. Young voters often turn out in droves. Sanders is very popular in the blue and ultra-mobilized terrain around Madison, where he drew thousands of supporters Saturday.

And the state’s open primary ensures a large independent vote that plays to Sanders strengths.

But it’s hardly a slam dunk. Polls have pointed to a close race, and history shows that Wisconsin Democrats don’t always vote for the insurgent or liberal contender in the race. Mike Dukakis easily defeated Jesse Jackson in 1988, Bill Clinton edged Jerry Brown in 1992, and John Kerry defeated John Edwards and Howard Dean in 2004.

In fact, Wisconsin has voted for the eventual nominee in every Democratic primary from ‘88 on. While the Democratic electorate here has a liberal image, exit polls show moderates and conservatives together made up more than half the 2008 primary vote. That electorate also includes a lot of rural and small town Democrats, who comprised about a third of the ’08 vote. In Marquette’s polling this year, Clinton is narrowly leading Sanders in the more rural northern half of the state.

The single biggest reason Clinton should do better than 2008 is the African-American vote. It broke heavily for Obama in 2008, but is almost sure to back Clinton decisively in 2016, based on polling here and the pattern in other states.

The black vote isn’t large: it accounted for just under 10% of Democratic turnout in ’08. But it should give Clinton the edge in the state’s biggest county, Milwaukee, a place she lost by almost 60,000 votes eight years ago.

Follow Craig Gilbert on Twitter @WisVoter