Welllllll I've tried oh so hard not to come back to this thread, but...
"now, in all seriousness, i really don't think my daughter will come home with somebody twenty years older than her. She's beautiful, clever, confident.... I don't see why she would settle for somebody as old as her father. Who knows, but I can't see it!"
Demonstrating the utmost in modesty I can undoubtedly say that my family would also consider me beautiful, clever and confident. I am certainly secure and probably a little too self-confident. 
I met my current DH when we both held the same competitive, lucrative, "high-flying" position - having been the only woman ever and the only person under 40 to have ever occuped that position. He is exactly twenty years older than me, and two months younger than my father.
Both of our families are entirely supportive, as we are obviously well suited to each other and ridiculously happy, more than a decade into our relationship. People who know us would say that we are on a "level playing field" with each other, and although we are both alpha-type personalities, we have a totally equal partnership.
Everyone is of course entitled to their opinion, but I can assure you that I am most definitely not settling for anything. I know settling, that's exactly what I was doing with my XH. My now DH is the man of my dreams, in fact he is beyond my dreams. And I truly believe (for whatever reason we are discussing your daughter) that in the event that your daughter was loved and respected by someone that she also loved and respected - that you would be happy for her, regardless of what year that person happened to be born.
Age IS nothing more than a number.