Bernie Sanders: Hillary Clinton has big edge over me with black voters

Bernie Sanders says he's at a disadvantage with black voters in the Democratic presidential race because Hillary Clinton has made such inroads with them.

"I am running against ... a candidate," Sanders told The Des Moines Register's editorial board Thursday, "whose husband, who I will also not mention, but was a former president of the United States, was very popular with the African-American community. Period. And certainly that popularity will benefit Hillary Clinton."

Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, said as Clinton campaigned vigorously for the presidency in 2008, she reached out to African-American leaders around the country.

"That's simply true. She has been doing this for years," he said. "So we're starting kind of way, way back."

But, Sanders said, all of his poll numbers have been growing, "and you're beginning to see that with the African-American community as well."

Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of state, had an 80 percent favorable rating among blacks nationally, while Sanders was viewed favorably by 23 percent, according to Gallup polling conducted July 8 through Aug. 8.

Sanders acknowledged that his Iowa events have attracted distinctly white crowds.

However, Sanders said he has an agenda that he believes will be popular with black voters, who are disproportionately affected by criminal justice issues, low wages, difficulty in affording college tuition, and other issues.

He added: "I will not deny for a moment that we have a lot of work to do. We are going to do that work. We think we can and should do well within the African-American community and the Latino community."

Iowa's population is about 3 percent black, compared with about 13 percent for the nation, according to 2013 U.S. Census figures.