Secretary of State Marco Rubio beamed with pride after his daughter Daniella introduced him before a major post-election speech at the Federalist Society's National Lawyers Convention. Daniella, a third-year law student at the University of Virginia, is the youngest of Rubio's four children, who include two boys and two girls, with his wife Jeanette. Rubio said of her remarks, "Was that cool or what?" adding, "I don't know where she got this. There's no stage fright. She's not afraid to speak. I don't really like public speaking that much, but she, on the other hand – that's fantastic."

When another law student asked how Americans can instill a love of freedom in the next generation as Rubio has with Daniella, he quipped that "my home was not a democracy," adding that he was "not the dictator" of the family but rather "the minister of defense." The lighter exchange framed a speech that was his first since Republicans were wiped out by a Democratic blue wave in last week's midterm elections.S2

Rubio struck an optimistic tone, reminding the conservative audience of the "devastating losses" Republicans suffered in the 1982 midterm elections under former President Ronald Reagan. He noted that less than two years into Reagan's first term, "everything sort of seemed headed in the wrong direction," and urged Republicans to think long term, saying "We have much more to do over the next two, the next six, the next 20 years" and that "great things that last are built in decades, not election cycles."S2

Acknowledging that setbacks are part of any undertaking of this weight, Rubio said there will be more victories and more defeats, more triumphs and more disappointments. He insisted that no great men or causes in history were spared such struggles, and declared that "we are persuaded of the justice of our cause, and we too will triumph in the end."S2