As the saying goes, you can take the man out of Nebraska, but you can’t take the Nebraska out of the man: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz returned to the Cornhusker State on Saturday as a returning hero and native-son-done-good.

And while the Democratic vice presidential candidate was there, he made a pitch to old-school Nebraskans with a libertarian Republican bent, arguing that the "Grand Old Party" has left them behind.

"I know this state, the kindness, generosity, I also know there's a libertarian bent," Walz said, after espousing his "mind your own damn business" slogan that has become popular on the campaign trail, and later adding: "If you are an old-school, libertarian Republican Nebraskan, this is the ticket for you."

"I have to admit it: it feels pretty good to be home," Walz, the running mate to Vice President Kamala Harris, said as he was greeted by the crowd in La Vista, Nebraska, about 10 miles from dead-center Omaha. Walz was born in West Point, a small city about an hour’s drive from Omaha.

"You could have been anywhere on a beautiful Nebraska Saturday in late summer, but you chose to be here," he told the crowd, as he sought to sell himself and his specific ties to the state — and place Republican candidate Donald Trump a someone who doesn’t understand the hearts of Nebraskans and midwesterners as a whole.

Despite the Harris-Walz campaign releasing an economic plan for their first 100 days in the Whtie House, the Minnesota governor spent less time on policy and more on personality.

Walz namedropped his birthplace in West Point, his elementary school in Valentine, his high school in the small village of Butte, and touted his degree from Chadron State College (the "Yale of the Midwest," he called it). He dropped regional in-jokes, too, asking if Trump’s running mate JD Vance has ever had a runza (picture a long sandwich bun stuffed with ground beef and your favorite fillings, and you’ve got the idea) and calling chili and cinnamon rolls the "most perfect culinary combination in the country," all to hearty cheers.

And Trump, he said, doesn’t get Nebraska.

"I think we all know Donald Trump sees the world a little differently," Walz said, telegraphing his jabs at Trump. "You think he would understand the importance of Carhenge as a historical relic? The British made a replica of it out of stone, it's so important!" he said. "Do you think he would know the joy of tubing and swimming in the Niobrara as we do in the summer? And — this one’s for the grey hairs in the room — do you think that guy could understand the pure joy of pregaming at Sidetracks before a Huskers-Sooners game?"

The jokes and references landed — this was, after all, a room filled with midwestern Democrats, his people. It was all an attempt to endear the folks in the room, and the undecided folks who might be watching from elsewhere, to sell them on his next part: Vice President and Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris and her economic policies.

Nebraska isn't an obvious tactical target. The state has been a safely Republican stronghold since the 1960s, and only contributed Democratic votes to the Electoral College count twice: once in 2008, and again in 2020.

But that one electoral vote could make a difference in a close election. Nebraska Democrats Chairwoman Jane Kleeb, who joked that Omaha has a new nickname, "Kamaha," pledged that "we’re going to make sure we bring that electoral vote home for Gov. Walz and Kamala Harris."

That said, Walz's goal may not have just been Nebraska, but the midwest as a whole.

Republicans, he argued on Saturday as he has since he joined the campaign, have lost their way: they’ve turned away from international allies, sought to get involved in individual healthcare choices and have simply gotten into people’s business.

Walz said that he knows the hearts of Nebraskans — and he knows that his people have a libertarian bent.

"You don’t need government to tell you about your health care. You don’t need government to pick your books out, that you can read … you don't need me, you don’t need Donald Trump, you don’t need anyone in government telling you about your family, but that’s exactly what they’re doing," Walz said. "If you are an old-school, libertarian Republican Nebraskan, this is the ticket for you."

"The traditional Republican party before Donald Trump, contributed much to this state and this great nation, but he’s not that today," he added.

Walz will join Harris in Pennsylvania on Sunday to kick off a bus blitz across the Keystone State ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, scheduled to begin Monday.