Imagine, he tells his students at one point, that “despite your message, you can’t get through [to minority voters] because they’re convinced you hate them. That’s going to be a problem, too.”

Rubio explains the GOP’s dilemma like this: “Basically, Barack Obama got eight out of 10 votes from the fastest-growing groups in America. And Mitt Romney got 90 percent of his votes from the group that is diminishing in terms of its overall percentage of the population. And from that, political scientists and other political observers will say, ‘Boy, Republicans are doomed. You just take that out 20 years, 15 years, 10 years and that’s the end of Republicans as a viable national party.’ That’s what some people will argue.”

But the senator finishes on an optimistic note. “I would encourage you to challenge that thought,” he tell the class.

A student, presumably a Republican, chimes in with a “yes” that sounds almost like an “amen.”