Obama Jokes About Presidential Run on TV

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Chicago, speaks to members of the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police in this July 24, 2004 file photo taken in Springfield, Ill. Obama, who is mulling a presidential bid, will travel to New Hampshire next month, where he will join Democrats on Dec. 10 for a belated celebration of their big win in the midterm election. It will be one of Obama's first forays into an early voting state. (AP photo/Randy Squires) (Randy Squires - AP)

BURBANK, Calif. -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger first announced his candidacy on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno." Might Barack Obama, who is considering a run for president, do the same?

"This is a great place. Everybody who has announced here has been successful," Leno hinted to Obama, who appeared on Friday's show.

"This is true, but I have to say that I've already committed to the Food Network to announce," Obama quipped before offering his standard answer to a question that follows him everywhere he goes.

"I think that if I'm going to run, then I've got to dive in early next year, and I've got a little bit of time," Obama said.

When Leno asked whether he would consider running for vice president, Obama said: "You don't run for vice president. So I don't think about it as much."

Earlier Friday, Obama gave a speech about fighting AIDS at the Saddleback Church in Orange County. His visit was a source of dispute among evangelical leaders, with some of the most conservative saying that a politician who supports abortion rights should not have been allowed to speak at such a prominent church.

"Everybody was reporting on me going to this church," Obama told Leno. "It was like, a Democrat in church!"