Klobuchar insists there’s still ‘joy’ in politics at VIP-filled DC book release party

SPOTTED: Sen. Amy Klobuchar doing her best Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) impression as a who’s who of Washington feted the Minnesota Democrat’s latest book.

“When the book got announced, it was actually in November, and Bernie and my book got announced the same day,” Klobuchar told guests Wednesday at a reception marking its release.

“My book is called ‘The Joy of Politics,’” Klobuchar continued to laughs, “and Bernie’s book is called, ‘It’s OK to be Angry at Capitalism.’”

“As we got into December and we were having all these fights over the budget, Bernie kept coming up to me on the [Senate] floor because I was trying to get … a tech bill passed, a very important bill … on newspapers getting compensated for their content,” she continued.

“And I was getting madder and madder that — because we really had a strong support — that we couldn’t get it on any bill,” Klobuchar told the crowd.

“And I was getting madder and madder, and every day Bernie came up to me and said, ‘Where’s the joy? I can’t find the joy! Where’s the joy here?’” Klobuchar exclaimed, breaking out her best impression of her 81-year-old colleague’s Brooklyn-bred accent.

Asked by ITK what Sanders thinks of her impersonation, Klobuchar said with a grin, “Al Franken did it as well, so I’m only following in the footsteps of many.”

Franken, Minnesota’s former Democratic senator and a “Saturday Night Live” alum, has demonstrated his impression before, appearing at a 2011 event alongside the lawmaker and playfully doing his Sanders schtick.

“I’m not the first to do a Bernie impression,” Klobuchar said of Sanders, who was famously portrayed by Larry David on “Saturday Night Live.”

Klobuchar said she was aware that the sunny title of her book “sounds like a bit of a joke right now with all of our politics —  but it’s not.”

“It’s about the joy of this journey,” she said. “And the joy of getting things done.”

Among the VIPs gathered at the Washington home of political power couple Susanna and Jack Quinn for the soiree hosted by them and Adrienne Elrod, Stephanie Cutter and Hilary Rosen: former White House chief of staff Ron Klain, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), former Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.), former Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Biden infrastructure czar Mitch Landrieu, “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd, NBC News’s Andrea Mitchell, Fox News’s Jennifer Griffin, Tammy Haddad, Kimball Stroud, Bob Barnett and Rita Braver, Juleanna Glover, Robyn Bash, MSNBC’s Chris Jansing, Elizabeth Thorp, CBS News’s Weijia Jiang and Susan Blumenthal.

Klobuchar said she planned on staying at the book bash for a long time because, “I’m having fun and we’re just waiting to see what the House does.”

Her remarks came shortly before the House voted 314-117 on Wednesday night to pass a debt ceiling compromise bill.

“My own view is that it’s really important that we get this done. People can complain, but compromises are still important,” she said, adding that she was “happy to vote for this debt deal.”

“I hope we get it done and I think we can then move on from there,” Klobuchar said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.