WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, a candidate for president, said Monday he may have been too inexperienced when he first sought the Democratic presidential nomination four years ago.

In a forum at Wake Forest University, Edwards said "there is as maturity and depth required to be an effective president of the United States," and that critics who suggested he was too inexperienced in 2004 "may have been right."

"When I ran in 2004 it would be fair to say that I spent most of my time thinking about being a good candidate...that's not what I think about these days," Edwards told the crowd. "I think about what I want to do as president of the United States -- the very difficult judgments that have to be made every single day when you are president, whose advice you would seek how you would protect the world."