Associated Press

Bernie Sanders is endearing himself to a banquet hall full of devout Democratic Party members in Milwaukee by promising to "do exactly the opposite" of everything Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has done.

The Vermont senator walked on stage at the Wisconsin Center after a short video akin to his popular television advertisement featuring the Simon and Garfunkel song "America."

The 1,500 Wisconsin Democratic activists, officials and donors in attendance stood and applauded as Sanders took the stage.

Walker came to national attention for his push against public-sector unions in 2011.

The Republican governor, who pulled the plug on his own presidential campaign in September, has endorsed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the Wisconsin Republican primary.

Sanders also told a largely African-American audience on the near north side of Milwaukee that police officers who break the law in shooting unarmed citizens "must be held accountable."

Sanders is reaching out to black voters, who have overwhelmingly preferred his opponent, Hillary Clinton, by advocating changes in the criminal justice system in heavily segregated urban Milwaukee.

He also called for decriminalizing marijuana possession and ending voter identification laws that disproportionately keep minority Americans from casting votes.

But Sanders' difficulty with black voters was on display. More than 500 chairs were set up in the gymnasium, but staff began removing chairs shortly before the rally began.

Sanders took the stage to resounding applause, but from only about 250 people.

RELATED | Sanders: It's a 'political revolution'

Clinton hopes to set herself apart from Sanders

Hillary Clinton is looking to draw a contrast with primary opponent Bernie Sanders by emphasizing her Democratic bona fides.

Clinton told hundreds gathered in a hotel ballroom in Eau Claire Saturday that she has been "a proud Democrat all my adult life and I think that's kind of important if we're selecting somebody to be a Democratic nominee of the Democratic Party."

Clinton's comment appeared to be a shot at Sanders, an independent Vermont senator and self-described Democratic socialist.

Sanders appeared before thousands in the same town earlier in the day, urging strong voter turnout. He and Clinton were both expected at a Democratic Party dinner in Milwaukee Saturday night.

RELATED | Clinton: It's time to reclaim Wisconsin

Donald Trump urges sober living

Donald Trump ended a rally in Wausau on Saturday by leading a handful of young people in a pledge to abstain from drugs.

Trump was finishing up his second rally of the day in Wisconsin when he turned to a line of young people who'd been standing in the front row, wearing shirts designed to look like the wall Trump says he'll build along the southern border.

Trump had the young people place one hand on their hearts and the other in the air. He then had them pledge to abstain from drugs and cigarettes and avoid — or at least take it easy on — alcohol.

Trump often talks about how he drove his kids nuts by insisting they stay clean long before they knew what drugs were.

RELATED | Trump: 'I don’t owe anybody anything'

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Kasich likes Justin Bieber song

As the crowd filed out of a John Kasich town hall in Janesville, Wisconsin, the Republican presidential contender stopped everyone and asked his staff to turn the music down and turn his microphone back on.

When he had everyone's attention, he asked them to pay attention to the tune coming through speakers: "I happen to like this song 'Sorry,' by Justin Bieber."

He said that at his previous campaign stop in Burlington he had promised that he was going to be sure to play the pop star's music "for the first time at a Republican event, ever in the history of the world."

"So everybody take a listen," he added to laughs, as the volume came back up.

RELATED | Kasich urges protests for Social Security fix

Kasich: No VP role for me

John Kasich is making no bones about it: He's not going to be anyone's vice president, so stop asking the question.

The Ohio governor is running for the top spot on the Republican ticket and hoping to emerge as the nominee after a political fight for delegates at the party's convention this summer.

And what if he falls short?

Kasich tells CNN that he'll finish out his term, then return to the private sector and — in his words — "be a citizen so that I can then complain about all the politicians."

"I just made the cameraman laugh," Kasich said as he ended the interview.

Trump dusting self off from tough week

Donald Trump is back campaigning after one of the worst weeks he had in the chase for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

Trump is kicking off a three-day sprint heading into Wisconsin's Tuesday primary with a rally in Racine, not far from Milwaukee.

Trump is taking some shots at rival Ted Cruz. Two recent opinion polls give Cruz in a lead in Wisconsin. Trump is associating Cruz with "such deception and such lying" in the course of the bitter campaign.

The outcome in Wisconsin could help determine whether Trump can seize the Republican nomination without a fight at the party's convention this summer.

Trump says his wife, Melania, is going to be joining him Monday at campaign events.

Cruz detours from Wisconsin to North Dakota

Ted Cruz has taken a quick detour from Wisconsin to make an appearance at North Dakota's Republican convention, where presidential delegates are being picked.

Convention-goers are scheduled to select 25 of their 28 national delegates on Sunday. North Dakota isn't holding a primary or caucus in the 2016 Republican race.

Cruz says it's "entirely possible" that those delegates could help determine the GOP nominee. They'll go to the national convention unbound to any of the presidential candidates.

Candidates Donald Trump and John Kasich sent supporters on their behalf to make the case that they should be backed by North Dakota's delegates at the Cleveland convention in July.

The Texas senator earned an ovation when he said North Dakota has become "a powerful energy haven" and that he would keep the federal government "the heck out of the way."

RELATED | Walker: Cruz is 'a constitutional conservative'

Debate date drama for Dems

The Democratic presidential campaigns are bickering over the date of a possible debate before the New York primary on April 19.

Bernie Sanders' team says it's happy that Hillary Clinton's camp has accepted his request for a debate "about the needs of New York and America."

But Sanders' spokesman Michael Briggs says the dates proposed by the Clinton campaign "don't make a whole lot of sense" — including this coming Monday, the night of the men's college basketball tournament finals.

The Sanders campaign is still hoping for an agreement "in the near future."