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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivers remarks on behalf of Maryland Democrats Anthony Brown (background R) and Ken Ulman (top-L) during a campaign rally October 30, 2014 at the Ritchie Coliseum at the University of Maryland in College Park Maryland. PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was at the University of Maryland on Thursday to stump for Anthony Brown, Maryland's Democratic gubernatorial candidate, but she ended up defending her own record on immigration reform after protesters repeatedly interrupted her speech.

"If they had just waited a little while, I was getting to the Dream Act," Clinton joked at the rally, referencing the legislation that gives certain undocumented youth a pathway to citizenship.

"As a senator, I was proud to co-sponsor the national Dream Act and to vote for it," she said. "I'm a strong supporter of comprehensive immigration reform, and I believe we have to fix our broken immigration system, [and] we have to keep families together."

Clinton noted that Maryland -- during Brown's tenure as lieutenant governor -- passed its own version of the Dream Act.

The potential presidential candidate was interrupted at least four times by protesters looking for more reforms to the immigration system, though the campus crowd seemed to rally around her, chanting, "Hillary! Hillary!"

As the protesters continued, Clinton at one point remarked, "We want people to be champions and advocates for the causes they believe in."

Pro-immigration reform demonstrators have pressured lawmakers on the issue all year. After Congress failed to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill in 2013, President Obama promised to take more executive action on the issue over the summer. However, by September, the White House said it would wait to take action.

The White House is still considering ways to reduce the number of deportations, the Wall Street Journal reports. Some immigration reform advocates, though, are concerned the administration's actions may not be bold enough.

The delayed action has raised the question of how motivated Latino voters will be to turn out on Election Day for Democrats. The Latino vote could have an impact in some states like Colorado.

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Hillary Clinton heckled by immigration protesters

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton came to Maryland on Thursday to praise the record of the O'Malley administration and urge young voters to turn out for Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown.

At a rally on the University of Maryland in College Park, Clinton said that as governor, Brown "would be on your side," fighting to promote gender equality, gun-control laws and other core Democratic values.

She urged college students to drag their roommates to the polls.

"They may be checking the box next to Anthony Brown, but they're really voting for themselves," Clinton said. "I really think you will be proud of the job Anthony Brown will do. ... He can't do anything if you can't turn out for him."

Clinton is the latest in a string of high-profile Democrats hoping to buoy Brown in his tight race against Republican Larry Hogan in Tuesday's election.

Hogan, meanwhile, campaigned along Harford Road in Baltimore County on Thursday afternoon, seeking votes in the battleground jurisdiction and popping into businesses. He stressed his message that only pocketbook issues matter in this election.

"We're going to try to roll back as many of those 40 tax increases as we can," Hogan told Tim Bonner, a towing company owner who attended a Hogan event in Parkville. Small businesses, Hogan said, have been "really getting squeezed over the last eight years."

The contest for governor is unexpectedly close for a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1. Brown leads in most polls by single digits.

During Maryland's eight-day early voting period which ended Thursday Democrats cast by far the most votes. More than 308,300 early ballots were cast, state elections officials said Thursday night. Their figures show about 62 percent were by Democrats, about 28 percent by Republicans, and the rest by independent and third-party voters.

In College Park, Clinton encouraged the mostly college-age crowd of several hundred people in Ritchie Coliseum to support Brown if they want to continue an agenda that legalized gay marriage and allows in-state tuition for some immigrants who are in the country without legal documentation.

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Hillary Clinton rallies for Brown

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) When it comes to potential Democratic primary rivals, Hillary Rodham Clinton is displaying a light touch.

Heading into Tuesday's midterm elections, Clinton has crossed paths with two possible presidential competitors in the past week: Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. By all accounts, the back-and-forth of a debate stage remains a long way off.

"For the past eight years, you've had a great team," Clinton said at the University of Maryland, where she vouched for Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, who is running to succeed O'Malley. The outgoing governor has a lengthy record that puts him in good standing with liberals, and he's also known for fronting a Celtic rock band.

"I don't know if Anthony plays an instrument but your current governor does," Clinton said. "And so he's gotten the Legislature and the people to sing along for eight years, and the melody has been terrific."

Clinton offered a similar embrace in Boston last week, heaping praise on Warren as a "passionate champion" for workers and families. "I love watching Elizabeth give it to those who deserve to get it," she said.

The midterm elections have put them the three Democrats, along with Vice President Joe Biden, before crowds of Democrats who could help energize a future White House bid. They haven't declared their intentions yet but Clinton remains the dominant Democratic contender if she runs.

How fellow Democrats could influence Clinton in presidential primary contests as candidates or on the sidelines remains an open question.

O'Malley picked a policy fight with the Obama administration last summer over the influx of unaccompanied immigrant children crossing the southern border into Texas. Expediting the deportations of the children, O'Malley said at the time, would "send them back to certain death."

Clinton's Maryland speech was interrupted several times by protesters pressing her over President Barack Obama's expected executive orders on immigration after the midterm elections. Carrying signs that read "Choose Families Over Politics," waves of activists heckled Clinton during her speech, prompting her to respond that she was a "strong supporter of comprehensive immigration reform."

Warren has repeatedly denied interest in running for president although she did suggest some wiggle room recently but she remains a forceful voice on income inequality and refinancing college loans. Liberals hope Warren's popularity within the party encourages Clinton to adopt some of their concerns. But they remain wary of the former secretary of state's ties to Wall Street.

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Hillary Clinton praises possible primary rivals

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Des Moines, Iowa (CNN) -- Imagine if Iowa held a caucus and nobody but Hillary Clinton showed up.

Democrats of all stripes, including Clinton allies, have predicted for months that the former Secretary of State -- who was campaigning for midterm candidates in Iowa on Wednesday -- will face some kind challenge in the race for the Democratic nomination if she decides to run. The prospect of a Clinton campaign seems more likely with each passing day.

But with the presidential race set to lurch into gear after next week's midterm elections and no clear alternative to Clinton emerging, there are questions about whether she will be the sole candidate on the ballot. That would mark a dramatic shift from the rollicking caucus fights in previous campaigns, including Clinton's battle with Barack Obama and John Edwards in 2008.

"There is a distinct possibility that there will be no serious alternative," said Kurt Meyer, a plugged-in Democratic activist from Mitchell County, Iowa. "She may in essence have the field to herself, with one or two fringe protest candidates and no serious candidates opposing her."

The prospect of an uncontested race is a little bewildering to some Democrats here, where competitive caucuses are ingrained in the culture.

"It could be a process with just one person," said Bonnie Campbell, a longtime Clinton loyalist in Des Moines. "None of us can imagine that, because it hasn't really happened before."

For their part, the GOP isn't worrying about a boring race. A platoon of Republicans Chris Christie, Rand Paul, Rick Perry, Ted Cruz and others have paraded through Iowa for the last two years, almost shamelessly transparent about their national intentions.

Among the cast of Democratic potentials, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley is the most active in Iowa, helping candidates up and down the ballot with campaign stops, paid staffers and financial assistance. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is also visible. Both men have said they are seriously considering running regardless of what Clinton does, though it's hard to imagine Sanders, a 73-year-old self-described socialist, mounting much more than a protest candidacy.

Meanwhile, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a progressive darling with grassroots appeal, whipped up a frenzy in the college town of Iowa City earlier this month at a campaign event for Senate candidate Bruce Braley in Iowa City. Former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb is weighing a run and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick hasn't quite ruled it out. Vice President Joe Biden, of course, is nurturing his long-standing relationships in the state.

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Hillary Clinton could end up alone in Iowa

Former Obama chief strategist David Plouffe is advising Hillary Clinton to announce her intention to run for president shortly after the 2014 election concludes, according to a terrific piece this morning by Politico's Maggie Haberman and Glenn Thrush.Why not? Plouffe reportedly told Clinton about the prospect of an early announcement. They are already going after you.

Plouffe is right -- both for the practical reasons outlined in the quote above and for more symbolic, but no less important, reasons too.

The reality of being Hillary Clinton -- the best known politician not named Barack Obama in the country and a massive frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination -- is that the campaign both for and against her is already well under way. There are outside organizations designed to gather opposition research against her (America Rising) and to protect her from that criticism (Correct The Record). There is a super PAC -- Priorities USA -- that is expected to carry the load of the pro-Clinton, anti-Clinton-opponent advertising and another one (Ready for Hillary) building a grassroots network for her candidacy.

Hillary Clinton, in the eyes of the political world, is already running for president. Waiting to acknowledge what everyone already knows and has spent the last year-plus preparing for makes little sense -- particularly because running for the nation's highest office requires massive amounts of time for fundraising, organization building, message development and so on and so forth. Why play coy when there's no mystery? Get in and start running. Everybody already assumes you are.

The less obvious but maybe more important reason for Clinton to announce sooner rather than later is that it would be somewhat unorthodox and unexpected. The conventional wisdom surrounding Clinton's timing on announcing is that she wants to wait as long as possible for people to see her in a political light. Her approval ratings have been sky high for years now because she hasn't been in office (or running for office) so why not preserve that "I'm not a politician (yet)" vibe for as a long as possible?

Clinton spent the entirety of her 2008 race for president guided by just this sort of conventional wisdom. It led to her being perceived -- and being -- an overly cautious politician who always wanted to see which way the wind was blowing before making up her mind about anything. (Remember that the start of Clinton's slide in the 2008 primary was when she tried to have it both ways on a question about undocumented workers getting driver's licenses at the end of a debate in the summer of 2007.)

Clinton needs to run a different kind of campaign this time. And, she has the luxury to do some unconventional things because, unlike in 2008, there is no real threat to her among the other Democrats thinking semi-seriously about running for president. By "taking a risk" and announcing early -- although, of course, it's really no risk at all given her lack of competition -- Clinton can show insiders, donors and activists (aka the only people paying any attention at this point) that this campaign is going to be different than the last one.

Add it up and there's really no reason for Clinton not to get into the presidential race shortly after the 2014 midterms conclude. Unless, of course, she decides not to run.

Chris Cillizza writes The Fix, a politics blog for the Washington Post. He also covers the White House.

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The Fix: Why Hillary Clinton would be smart to announce her presidential candidacy ASAP