"Thank you for bringing back the joy".
The first words out of Tim Walz's mouth on stage in Philadelphia last night after his introduction by Kamala Harris set out his stall - this guy is up for the craic.
That is not to say he is not a serious politician - he is - but he is also capable of bringing a bit of humour and humanity to US politics too.
The Minnesota governor’s reputation as a good communicator was on the line last night - a big introduction to the US nation for a politician hardly known outside his home state. Just like JD Vance at the Republican convention last month.
But unlike Vance, who was stiff and appeared overawed at the occasion, Walz seemed totally at ease, enjoying the moment.
He even cracked a slightly risqué joke at Vance’s expense.
Telling the crowd he can't wait to debate the Republican VP pick, he added: "If he could be bothered to get up off the couch and face me".
The line brought the house down. (No, I’m not going to explain: if you know, you know, if you don’t - there's Google).
Walz used to be a Sergeant Major in the Army National Guard, virtually the top of the tree for a non-commissioned officer and there was a hint of that on show by him.
You get a sense he could be the type of sergeant who has the craic with the lower ranks, the sort who is totally confident in his leadership - focused and furious when he has to be, ready to enjoy life when he doesn’t.
And that was part of the tenor of his speech - a leader who brings his team with him. Kamala Harris called him 'Coach Walz' several times.
A teacher by trade, he was the linebacker coach for the high school he worked for. During his time there the team went from losing pretty much everything to winning their first state championship.
Across most of the US, but especially away from the coastal states and their big cities, high school football is a big deal, and the team coaches are big personalities, often credited with getting unruly teenage boys back on the straight and narrow.
So Nebraska farm boy, army reservist for 24 years, got to college thanks to the GI bill (as did JD Vance), teacher who appears to have been liked by the students, football coach, a family man and a gun owner.
Yes, Walz is a hunter, one who kept winning the Congressional sharp shooting competition when he served on Capitol Hill. Until the Parkland shooting, when he moved to bring in restrictions on gun ownership in his home state.
The National Rifle Association used to give him an A rating, now he gets an F and is proud of that.
So when he told the audience in Philadelphia that "in Minnesota we believe in the second Amendment - but we also believe in sensible gun violence laws", he hit the spot that Kamala Harris just can’t.
A sergeant major and a deer hunter can lead people on the issue of sensible gun control in a way that many other politicians struggle to - because he has the credibility.
And strangely for a middle-aged man, he also has credibility on the issue of reproductive rights.
Again, going on the attack against his Republican opponents by claiming they want to totally ban abortion and IVF, the 60-year-old spoke about the long journey he and his wife undertook to have their first child, assisted by IVF, a daughter they called Hope.
Using the personal to deliver a political message, he reached into the folksy but plain spoken world of the US's heartland to deliver the stand-out line of the night.
"In Minnesota, we respect our neighbours and the personal choices that they make. Even if we wouldn't make the same choice for ourselves. There's a golden rule. Mind your own damn business."
Democrat-supporting commentators are hailing it as a eureka moment - at last someone in their party has found a way to talk about this issue in a simple, direct language that connects with the way about 70% of Americans think about the issue.
There is no great philosophy, no complexity, no medical terminology, no theology, no legalism. Just mind your own damn business.
It's the second time Walz has struck in the space of a fortnight: It was he who used the word "weird" to sum up the Trump-Vance policy programme.
More:
Listen: Harris VP pick Tim Walz suprises many in the Republican Party
The word that launched a thousand memes on social media, "weird" is another word that connects with the very middle of middle America, and it's a word that is starting to stick to the republican ticket.
Already a crowd pleaser, Walz let rip with it again last night: "These guys are creepy and yeah, just weird as hell. That's what you see. That's what you see".
And there was time for yet another barb thrown at JD Vance: "Like all regular people I grew up with in the heartland, JD studied at Yale, had his career funded by Silicon Valley billionaires. And then wrote a best seller trashing that community. Come on. That's not what Middle America is".
The question now is how will Walz do on the campaign trail?
Will he add to the appeal of Harris in those parts of the country where she needs to win - notably Pennsylvania, site of last night's rally, as well as Michigan and Wisconsin - the neighbouring states to Walz’s Minnesota?
The popular teacher, the football coach, the army sergeant, the hunter, the farm boy - certainly he connects with the kind of people that Kamala Harris has very little in common with.
His track record in Congress suggests a middle of the road kind of person, elected in a district that had voted Republican since 1892 (and which voted for Trump twice), suggesting he is not quite the radical left winger that Republicans are branding him..
How it goes on the road over the next three months remains to be seen.
But last night, the US was introduced to Tim Walz and it was an introduction that went very well for the man from the midwest.
