Knowing what you're doing

Obama, 2004:

Question: Why have you ruled that out, running nationally?

Obama: You know, 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's some people that might be comfortable doing that but I'm not one of those people.

Video here. Feb. 10, 2007 Obama launched his candidacy, just over two years after taking office in the Senate.