Madeleine Behr

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

EAU CLAIRE - Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton said she is "disheartened" to see conservative policies advance in Wisconsin under Republican Gov. Scott Walker.

"But there was something else I learned as I got older, how Wisconsin was such a pioneer, a pioneer in making progress on behalf of working people, a pioneer in an idea ... Wisconsin understood before most of rest of country did that economy and higher education were linked," Clinton told a crowd of more than 800 at the Lismore Hotel in Eau Claire.

"I admire that," she added. "(I’m) disheartened to see the dismantling of so many pieces of what made Wisconsin not just a great state to live in and a great state to work in, but an example for so many others.”

Clinton's Democratic opponent, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, was also in Eau Claire Saturday for a rally on the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire campus.

Clinton would campaign for a Democratic gubernatorial candidate to take the governor's office in 2018, when Walker's second term is up, she added.

Walker has told reporters he has not decided whether to run for a third term as governor.

Clinton has crossed the state for events in Green Bay, La Crosse, Madison and Milwaukee this week. Her husband, former president Bill Clinton, campaigned for her in Appleton Friday morning and will campaign for her again in Milwaukee on Monday.

She spent Wednesday and Thursday campaigning in New York, ahead of that state's April 19 primary. Both she and Sanders have a connection to New York, Clinton as a senator and Sanders as a Brooklyn native.

During her Eau Claire stop, Clinton hit Sanders for his free college tuition plan, saying she's not willing to let taxpayers pay for the college of wealthy Americans.

Sanders' plan would have the federal government match state government funding for university tuition for in-state students 2-1. Clinton said getting state governors like Walker to buy into that plan wouldn't work, as Walker made cuts to the University of Wisconsin System in the last budget.

"That would be like a death bed conversion," she joked to the crowd. "I'm not convinced that's going to happen."

She also argued she's the best-positioned candidate to take on a Republican in the general election.

"(Republicans) have been after me a really long time, and it drives them crazy, but I'm still standing," she said to cheers from the crowd.

Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin and state Rep. Dana Wachs, D-Eau Claire, came to support Clinton. Baldwin introduced Clinton to the crowd and stood behind her as she spoke to the group.

"We work hard, we play hard, we expect that work will be rewarded, not just wealth," Baldwin said about Wisconsin voters. "Yet, we have seen some enormous battles in our state and some incredible threats to the things we value, the things we love here.

"And I say to you in Wisconsin, who care so deeply about this state, we would have no better ally in the White House as we build and reverse some of the damage that's been done than Hillary Clinton."

People started lining up about 9:30 a.m. Saturday outside the hotel. The event required an overflow room, and some had to be turned away.

Many Clinton supporters who spoke to USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin said they favored Clinton over Sanders because Sanders ideas are too pie-in-the-sky to be achieved.

"I just don't think he's realistic," said Christina Hupy, an Eau Claire resident, who went to the Clinton rally at the request of her 8-year-old daughter, Katya.

"She might be the first girl president," added Katya.

Sanders's rhetoric "is a little old at this point," said Reed White, a UW-Eau Claire political science major. "And she's the best choice against Trump. Once they're on a debate stage together, we'll see how weak his ideas are."

White went to the rally alongside friends Denise Bustamante and Anna Schwanebeck from the College Democrats club at UW-Eau Claire.

His support of Clinton is not because he doesn't like Sanders ideas, White said. Sanders is just too ambitious and not practical enough.

Schwanebeck told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin that she was most concerned with Sanders not being a lifelong Democrat. Sanders has been an independent in the Senate, but has often caucused with Democrats.

"Sen. Sanders doesn't have a history of working with the Democratic party," she said. "(Clinton) has been doing it her whole life. She cares about all Democrats down-ballot."

Sanders is qualified for the job, Jeremy Hundt of Eau Claire said, but his proposals like free college tuition are not realistic.

"Sanders is not practical," Hundt, 40, said. "If we're looking at reality, we need more moderate plans. And you (pass moderate plans) by getting bipartisan support, which (Hillary) can do."

"I've always been supportive of her and have admiration for her," he said. "She's very knowledgeable, intelligent, and she's done her homework. It's a lot more than I can say for the other candidates."

Following her afternoon appearance in Eau Claire, Clinton was to attend a state Democratic Party event with Sanders on Saturday night in Milwaukee. Other attendees include Milwaukee Congresswoman Gwen Moore, Minnesota Sen. Al Franken, Wisconsin Senate candidate Russ Feingold and Baldwin.

Madeleine Behr: 920-996-7226, or mbehr@gannett.com; on Twitter @madeleinebehr