Jon Swedien

JSWEDIEN@NEWS-LEADER.COM

Touting Hillary Clinton as the more experienced and pragmatic choice for the Democratic Party, her husband, former president Bill Clinton, called her the "biggest change maker" in this year's presidential race.

Speaking to a packed room inside the Teamsters Local #245 on East Division Street, Bill Clinton said it would be good to elect the first woman president to loud cheers from the crowd. However, the former president said the better reason to vote for Hillary Clinton is she has the best plan for the nation's economy.

"Hillary is running for president because she wants us to all rise together," he said.

During his roughly hourlong speech, Bill Clinton outlined a number of his wife's policy positions, including her support for wind and solar energy, desire to incrementally raise the minimum wage to $12 an hour, and plans to encourage investments in economically depressed areas.

Many in the crowd were excited at the prospect of seeing the former president in person.

"I'm a huge Bill Clinton fan," said Stacy Gray, 42, of Springfield while standing in line for the event. During the speech, she stood on the stage behind Clinton.

Gray said she believes Hillary Clinton will be able to replicate the economic prosperity the nation enjoyed during the late 1990s during Bill Clinton's second term.

Bill Clinton did not attack his wife's primary opponent, Bernie Sanders, during his remarks but did argue that Hillary Clinton was more electable in a general election and was the more pragmatic candidate. He said Hillary Clinton would be able to handle Republicans in Congress better than Sanders.

While he didn't take a swipe at Sanders, Bill Clinton did jab Republicans for what he said was a lack of policy discussion in their debates.

"One thing I like about being a Democrat is our side actually debates the issues," he said.

There was at least one Sanders supporter at the event. One of the first people in line to get in the building was Mikell Lurvey, 27, of Springfield, a Sanders supporter who said he was still eager to see the man who "was president during almost my entire childhood." Lurvey said he would vote for the Democratic nominee regardless of who won.

On several occasions, Bill Clinton mentioned the high levels of heroin and prescription drug addiction in rural America. He pointed to economic policies aimed at spurring investment in small towns and rural areas as a way to help combat the nation's addiction epidemic, along with policies aimed at promoting treatment.

Andrew Crocker, 34, of Springfield said he believes Hillary Clinton will continue many of President Barack Obama's policies, which he likes. And while he generally likes Sanders, Crocker believes Hillary Clinton is more electable in the general election. He also agrees with her husband that Hillary Clinton is better suited to have success in the White House.

A statewide poll released Friday shows Clinton has a slight lead on Sanders in the Missouri primary race. The state's primary election is Tuesday.