Back in 2004, Obama felt that it would be too soon for a newly-minted senator to run for president (agreeing with Jimmy Carter that it was too soon). Rosslyn Smith reminds us of a November 2004 video (hat tip: Gateway Pundit) taken right after Obama had won his Senate race in a landslide shows him saying:

"I am a believer in knowing what you're doing when you apply for a job. And, I think that if I were to seriously consider running on a national ticket I would essentially have to start now before having served a day in the Senate. Now, there are some people who may be comfortable doing that, but I'm not one of those people."