The freshman Congresswoman from Delaware has been a politics nerd from a young age. Sarah McBride had Joe Biden’s autograph on her wall growing up, interned in the Obama White House, and then was elected a Delaware State Senator. In that role, she helped pass the largest increase in the social safety net in the state’s history. McBride is known for being the first openly transgender member of Congress, and she says it’s been difficult, and lonely. But she’s in the fight to win – which she says is only possible by rejecting purity tests and welcoming everyone with good intentions to the Democratic coalition. "I think too often we find ourselves wanting the comfort of preaching to our own choir,” she says, “rather than exercising the courage to truly grow our congregation.”

And before we hear from McBride, Lis Smith is here to discuss the lessons Democrats can learn from Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner and Virginia gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger about how to weather a crisis.

Want more from “The Blueprint”? On Sunday, November 2nd, Jen will lead a primetime weekend pre-election special, “The Blueprint with Jen Psaki: Decision 2025,” at 9 p.m. ET on MSNBC.

Subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts for ad-free listening to this and other podcasts.