SPRINGFIELD — Campaigning in one of the few states expected to be competitive on Super Tuesday, Hillary Clinton continued to take aim at Republicans, but made sure to highlight differences between her positions and those of the man she referred to primarily as her “esteemed opponent.”

“I wanted to come here to ask the people of Western Massachusetts for their support,” Clinton told a crowd of roughly 700 people packed into the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History. The partisan Democratic crowd cheered when she added, “you are a city on the way back up and I am going to be a president and a partner to help you keep going.”

The former First Lady and Secretary of State spoke for 30 minutes, spending the opening minutes of her speech slamming Republicans and repeating her criticism of Donald Trump’s direction after her South Carolina Primary win Saturday night.

“I don’t think America ever stopped being great, right now we need to make America whole,” Clinton said. “I want to be a president who encourages people to overcome our divide. The mean spiritedness, the hateful rhetoric, the insults, that’s not who we are.”

The Springfield stop is the first of two “get out the vote” rallies planned for Super Tuesday-eve. Clinton chartered a flight from Springfield to Boston, a campaign spokesperson said, in order to make it to the state’s capital in time to speak at the Old South Meeting House just after noon.

Clinton primarily stuck to the message that has earned her victories in three of the first four primary contests, including a South Carolina landslide over the weekend. She did reference a study she saw that said approximately 400 Massachusetts bridges may be “structurally inefficient” while discussing the need for investment in infrastructure.

She name-dropped Ted Kennedy when touting the Children’s Health Insurance Program passed during her time as First Lady. A woman in the crowd cried out “thank you Hillary!” as the Secretary boasted about covering eight million children under the 1997 law.

Clinton also sought to differentiate herself from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who polls show in a statistical tie in tomorrow’s Bay State primary. Unlike past rallies, she did not mention Sanders by name, instead referring to him as either her “esteemed opponent” or simply “her opponent.”

“(Gun control) is one of the principal differences between me and my opponent,” she said. “My opponent voted five times against the Brady Bill and he voted for the Charleston Loophole.”

A hush came over the crowd as she recounted the actions of the Charleston church shooter, who was able to buy a gun after a three-day waiting period even though a full background check had not been completed.

On education, Clinton said she had a “different idea than my esteemed opponent,” referencing Sanders’ plan for free college tuition at public colleges and universities.

“I want to make sure you have debt free college,” she said before her only direct mention of the GOP front-runner. “I do not want to ask you to pay taxes to send Donald Trump’s youngest child to college.”

Clinton didn't mention Sanders at all when discussing her plan to improve the Affordable Care Act, but she stressed the need to avoid "starting another contentious national debate" over health care in a direct reference to the Sanders' single-payer plan.

The crowd, packed in shoulder to shoulder underneath a pair of early 1900s airplanes suspended from the museum ceiling, seemed to approve of the Clinton message.

“Dynamic rally, she spoke to what I think we all want in the future,” said Chicopee resident Ray Blair, who said Clinton’s experience as Secretary of State is a big reason why he is supporting her. “It’s about the middle class, it’s about equal rights for everybody. She truly is a progressive and probably the most competent candidate on both sides as far as I’m concerned.

“She is going to continue the platform that Obama started and she is going to continue moving us in the right direction,” added Karen Thomes of Springfield.

U.S. Rep. Richard Neal introduced Clinton and had his own jab for the Republicans left in the race.

“I asked a friend of mine if he had ever heard anyone talk the way the Republicans do,” Neal told the crowd. “He said ‘our mothers wouldn’t have allowed it.’ ”