Racism would become a factor.
It wasn't a large one for Obama in 2008.
Uh, it would be in the states a Republican has to win.
I don't think it would be too significant. All the states in 2008 voted more democratic than they had in previous elections with a black man as the head of the ticket (besides two...I think Louisiana and Utah but definitely Louisiana).
On top of that Obama won a larger margin of the white vote than any other Democrat since Carter.
I think racism towards Powell would be negligible especially because he was popular.
States like Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Louisiana aren't going to vote for a moderate Republican negro from New York against a native son. Without 9/11, Powell's military background wouldn't even help him all that much in 2004.
