Donovan Slack

USA TODAY

Coming off a weekend of mammoth losses to progressive Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton is trying to leverage the battle over the Supreme Court majority to sway more progressives to her side.

In a speech at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Monday, Clinton sought to highlight what’s at stake on issues such as immigration, voting rights, affirmative action programs and abortion rights.

"If we're serious about fighting for progressive policies, we need to focus on the court," she said.

Madison, Wis., is a Democratic stronghold that produced the first lesbian to serve in the U.S. Senate, Democrat Tammy Baldwin, and whose current congressman, Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan, is openly gay.

Clinton said that for far too long, the Supreme Court has tilted ideologically against progressive tenets, and she called on the Republican-controlled Senate to confirm President Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland.

"This is their job, but they refuse to do it," she said.

She also raised the specter that additional vacancies are likely during the next president’s tenure and warned that a Republican could appoint a justice who would roll back rights, empower corporations and undo progressive gains.

"I see this as a make or break moment," Clinton said.

While her audience in Madison appeared to be a friendly one, the “welcome” in the state Capitol there may not be.

Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who last year mounted an unsuccessful bid for the GOP presidential nomination, tweaked the former secretary of State before she had even touched down.

Sanders notched large victories Saturday in Alaska, Hawaii and Washington state, but Clinton still leads in pledged delegates by more than 250, and when superdelegates are added, that lead stretches to more than 700.

Momentum v. math as Sanders claims victories while Clinton keeps delegate lead