WI: Colin Powell was a Nobody?

It's kinda a favorite topic of discussion of what if Colin Powell had gone further, all the way to the Presidency or Vice Presidency, but what about the opposite? What if Colin Powell, rather than getting into the military and therefore setting into motion all that followed, had simply kept his geology degree and settled into a teaching position or something somewhere off the radar?
 
I wanna bump this up.

Who would fill the gap left by Colin Powell? Might there be other minority figures (or perhaps multiple) filling the positions Powell filled in the OTL?
 
Perhaps Douglas Wilder is a bigger deal here? Perhaps Gore picks him instead of Lieberman in 2000? Or am I being a bit too convergent?
 
Top