Mark Boughton and the Notorious B.I.G.

While many people and elected officials have simply followed the Weather Channel's decision to call the snowstorm hitting the Northeast "Nemo," the mayor of one city in Connecticut has decided to come up with his own name for the blizzard and it's a reference to the late, great rapper Notorious B.I.G. In a series of tweets sent today, Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton has used the #SnowtoriousBIGII hashtag to refer to the storm.

"Wind is definitely picking up," Mr. Boughton wrote this afternoon. "This is becoming an old school storm. #OG #snotoriousBIGII"

Politicker asked Mr. Boughton whether "Snowtorious B.I.G." was the official name for the storm within the City of Danbury.

"Yes. Of course," he replied.

Mr. Boughton, who was first elected in 2001, also pointed out he previously used the reference to the late, great rapper Biggie Smalls A.K.A. Notorious B.I.G. to refer to another snowstorm two winters ago.

"This the 2nd storm to carry the hashtag. Hence the II at the end," wrote the mayor.

During the first "Snowtorious B.I.G.," Mr. Boughton, who has been on Twitter since 2008, drew national attention for the way he communicated with constituents on the social media site during the storm. He dispatched a plow to a snow-covered street after a tweet alerted him to the situation there.

Since he named the storm after Mr. Smalls, we also asked the mayor if he's a rap fan.

" I love all kinds of music including Biggie Smalls," wrote Mr. Boughton.

If you don't know, now you know.

Congressman Joe Crowley singing along to "Call Me Maybe" at the Today Show. (Photo: NBC)

Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert was the surprise guest this morning at the House Democratic retreat and his appearance included quips about his sister's House bid in North Carolina and a "dramatic" duet of the Star Spangled Banner with Queens Congressman Joe Crowley. Sadly, Mr. Crowley's office told us they don't have video footage of the comedian and congressman performing, but Mr. Crowley did offer up a complimentary appraisal of his partner's performance.

"All I can say is Stephen Colbert can be my back-up singer anytime," he said.

His duet with Mr. Colbert isn't Mr. Crowley's first musical moment. The guitar-playing congressman once taped a singing robocall. He has also served as a bandleader at various fundraisers, and, perhaps most memorably, was filmed rocking out to a performance of Carly Rae Jepsen's tween pop hit "Call Me Maybe" at a Today Show taping last summer.

Bill de Blasio, Dante and Dante's afro appearing at Sunday's campaign announcement.

One of the breakout stars of Bill de Blasio's mayoral campaign announcement last weekend was his son Dante's prodigious afro. In the days since Mr. de Blasio's kickoff rally at his home young Dante's hairstyle has earned coverage in the New York Times and inspired a parody Twitter account. Politicker spoke with Mr. de Blasio during his marathon first day on the campaign trail Monday and he revealed Dante's hairdo may have its roots in classic rock.

Mr. de Blasio brought up his son's now famous 'fro after we overheard him telling a campaign volunteer he attended Bob Dylan's concert at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn last November.

"I love Dylan," Mr. de Blasio said when asked about his musical tastes. "I've been listening to a lot of Jimi Hendrix lately because my son, Dante, is a huge Hendrix fan. I think that's part of the inspiration for the afro, the afro of huge proportions."

In addition to his penchant for classic rock, Mr. de Blasio said enjoys a variety of other musical genres.

"I like a lot of things; big Talking Heads fan, big Bob Marley fan," he said. "I've been listening to a lot of Third World lately, so I'm eclectic."

Mr. de Blasio didn't say whether Dante shares his predilection for reggae. If he does, perhaps we will see him sporting some even more impressive hairstyles in the near future.

Inaugural Cheez Its.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- For most Americans, the phrase Inaugural Ball conjures up images of the commander in chief and first lady clad in full evening dress taking a waltz on the dance floor. If you'd like to maintain that illusion of grandeur when 2016 rolls around, Politicker humbly suggests you stay home and watch the festivities on television, because the reality is far less glamorous. Last night's main Inaugural Ball was like a low rent prom complete with a gym-like venue, chips standing in for hors d'oeuvres and 80's music. Amid all these cut-rate accoutrements and incongruously overdressed guests, we also spotted a basketball legend, a dancing congresswoman and, of course, the president.

The route into the ball, which was held inside the Washington Convention Center, took guests decked out in black tie through a number of security checkpoints that left them waiting in lines stretching for blocks outside. Once in the ball, the situation wasn't much better. Escalators took guests down into a cavernous hall that, apart from a few light displays and several presidential seals people lined up to pose in front of, had few decorations to disguise the fact the space was essentially a massive cement hangar.

Though the crowd was wearing their finest and paid about $200 for the privilege of attending, the only food they were treated to was two varieties of pretzels and Cheez Its on paper plates. We spotted at least one guest snapping photos of the chip buffet.

"No one is going to believe they had Cheez Its at the ball!" she exclaimed.

Those who wished to imbibe needed to endure a lengthy wait to purchase drink tickets before a separate long line at the cash bar.

Musical acts performed on a stage in one corner of the room, but you probably had a better view at home as most areas of the huge convention hall had no view of the stage and most ball guests were trapped in line for drinks long enough to miss a substantial portion of the show. Highlights of the concert included Alicia Keys, who performed a remixed version of her hit "Girl On Fire" that must have alarmed the Secret Service agents in attendance.

"Obama's on fire," she sang. "Obama's on fire."

When President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, took the stage for their ceremonial dance, Jennifer Hudson performed a cover of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together." Their appearance caused guests to surge towards the stage or any corner of the room where they could get a glimpse of the first couple.

Initially, we didn't see any high-profile guests in the crowd, but after wandering the massive room we found a cordoned off area for "special guests." This elite section of the ball featured the same sad Cheez It and pretzel spread, but at least the drinks were free. Like a vision from a fever dream, we suddenly saw Knicks legend Patrick Ewing, who seemed to be have the only celebrity in the crowd, attempting to order a drink at the bar while contending with a steady stream of fans asking for his photo.

We asked Mr. Ewing about the speculation he could join the coaching staff of the Brooklyn Nets in the wake of the team firing head coach Avery Johnson last month. Mr. Ewing, who coached in Orlando and Houston after his playing career, said he hadn't heard from the Nets, but he would gladly take any coaching job.

"I'm willing to join any team, just give me the opportunity," Mr. Ewing said. "Just give me the opportunity anywhere, Brooklyn, New York, everywhere and anywhere."

Politicker also shared our personal story of giving up our Knicks fandom due to the way the team treated Mr. Ewing in his later years and eventually defecting to root for the Nets.

"I appreciate that," Mr. Ewing said.

Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney cutting a rug at the Inaugural Ball.

On our way out, we saw another familiar face, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who was working her way through the crowd with her two daughters and a young man. Ms. Maloney grabbed our hand and pulled us along with her.

"You having fun or covering the event?" she asked.

When we informed her we were indeed covering the event she expressed her sympathies. A few moments later the DJ put on Madonna and when the pop diva commanded, "dance and sing, get up and do your thing," the congresswoman dutifully obeyed.

"We've got to dance!" she shouted back to us as she spun away.

The NRA Country logo.

After this morning's shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, the National Rifle Association cancelled a planned Twitter promotion with country music rapper Colt Ford. A live "Tweet & Greet" with Mr. Ford was scheduled for 1 p.m. (Central Time) this afternoon on the "NRA Country" account. However, shortly after the event's planned start time, an announcement was posted on the NRA Country Twitter account that it would be rescheduled.

"Apologies for the inconvenience, but the @ColtFord Tweet & Greet will be rescheduled. Please check back for more info!" the announcement said.

We reached out to a spokeswoman for NRA Country to confirm that the cancellation of the "Tweet & Greet" was related to the shooting, which has already led to calls for tougher gun control legislation from several politicians. As of this writing, we have yet to receive a response.

NRA Country is a campaign launched by the gun organization that features country music artists "involved in causes that defend our values." In addition to Mr. Ford, artists involved with NRA Country include Blake Shelton, Rascal Flatts and Hank Williams Jr.

Mr. Ford is currently NRA Country's "Artist of the Month." Earlier this month, Mr. Ford visited the NRA headquarters and performed some of his songs. Mr. Ford described the concert at NRA in a YouTube video that was posted by NRA Country.

"That's the safest I've ever felt playing music," he said. "I've got a lifetime membership in the NRA ... I'm Colt Ford and I'm encouraging all my fans and all those country people out there to go sign up and be part of NRA Country."

Marco Rubio (Photo: Getty)

This month's issue of GQ features an interview with Florida Senator Marco Rubio in which he talks about his favorite rap songs. When the interview went live online last week, many people took note of Mr. Rubio's rap knowledge, but Politicker couldn't help but notice he appeared to mistakenly describe hip hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa as a member of the rap group Public Enemy. However, after reading the print version of the issue it is clear that the discrepancy was caused by an edit made by the magazine and not any rap errors made by Mr. Rubio.  

In the online version of the interview, writer Michael Hainey is quoted as simply asking Mr. Rubio, "Your autobiography also has to be the first time a politician has cited a love of Afrika Bambaataa. Did you have a favorite Afrika Bambaataa song?" Mr. Rubio is quoted as answering by discussing Public Enemy, a group that did not include Mr. Bambaataa.

"All the normal ones. People forget how dominant Public Enemy became in the mid 80s. No one talks about how transformative they were," Mr. Rubio said.

When the article appeared online last week, we reached out to Mr. Rubio's spokesman Alex Conant who said the apparent mistake was caused by the magazine's editing.

"Yeah, the transcript in print edition edits the conversation for space. In the Q portion in the full interview, there was actually a decent back and forth about rap before he asked the second question about a favorite album," said Mr. Conant.

Indeed, in the print version of the interview that is now available on newsstands, Mr. Hainey's full question includes the note that Mr. Bambaataa was sampled in Public Enemy's song "Fight The Power," which led to Mr. Rubio's response.

Mr. Rubio mentioned Mr. Bambaataa in his memoir when he described how he became enamored with "a new kind of music, rap" in his youth.

"My white friends liked hard rock acts--Van Halen, Osbourne and others," Mr. Rubio wrote. "I didn't care for that kind of music anymore, and they didn't care for my preferences, Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash."

Congressman Crowley (Photo: YouTube)

In a few months, Queens County's elected officials are gathering for a musical talent show of sorts. In a flier sent out to the borough's legislators, the show, a fundraiser for Queens College, is "seeking elected officials who can sing, act, dance, do comedy and are willing to share their talents in a musical comedy revue which celebrates our wonderful borough."

According to a source, two of the borough's most musical officials, Democratic Congressman Joe Crowley and GOP Councilman Dan Halloran, both seemed likely to attend. Mr. Crowley, of course, is a well-known music lover, from "Call Me Maybe" to little ditties in his fundraising solicitations. For his part, Mr. Halloran is a fairly talented alternative rock singer, as he thoroughly demonstrated at one of his own fundraisers.

However, somewhat ominously, the invitation told pols to participate, "[e]ven if you think you don’t have any talent."

For fun, we've collected some of the greatest hits of Mr. Crowley and Mr. Halloran, who, as it happens, were on opposing sides of the only notable congressional race this year in Queens. Perhaps a musical face-off will help settle their rivalry?

(13 minutes in)

Big Bird on the streets of Manhattan in 2009. (Photo: Getty)

Team Romney has decried Democrats' repeated mentions of Big Bird since Mitt Romney brought up the beloved muppet while declaring his intention to end the federal subsidy for PBS during last week's presidential debate, but the Obama campaign shows no sign that they intend to stop invoking Sesame Street any time soon. In fact, at an Obama rally at Ohio State University this afternoon, rapper will.i.am performed a rendition of the theme song of the popular children's television show to rile up the president's supporters. 

According to Politico reporter Reid Epstein, who was on the scene at the Ohio State rally, will.i.am's Sesame Street stylings may not have had the desired effect.

"Much, much more enthusiasm when @iamwill plays Journey than for the Sesame Street theme song," Mr. Epstein wrote on Twitter.

Based on his other tweets from the event, Mr. Epstein clearly wasn't impressed with will.i.am's performance.

"So what is will.i.am 's talent again?" he asked.

will.i.am also made music for the president during the 2008 election. In February of that year he released a song, "Yes We Can," with lyrics based on one of Mr. Obama's campaign speeches. That song seems to have gone over much better than his performance today. The star-studded "Yes We Can" video, which featured appearances from a slew of celebrities including; Scarlett Johansson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Nick Cannon and John Legend went on to be seen by more than 24 million people on YouTube.

This morning, the Obama campaign released a web video mocking Mr. Romney for threatening to cut funding to PBS and take Big Bird off the air. Sesame Workshop, the foundation that creates the kids' show, responded with a two-sentence statement asking the Obama to remove the ad on the grounds they are "a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization" that doesn't "endorse candidates or participate in political campaigns."

Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One this afternoon, President Obama's campaign press secretary, Jen Psaki, said they are "reviewing" that request. She also addressed the Romney campaign's criticism that the Big Bird attack is exactly the kind of "small" tactic President Obama denounced in 2008. Ms. Psaki insisted the president's focus throughout this campaign has been on "serious issues."

"You've been out with the President the last few days, all of you have been. And 99 percent of his remarks are about his plans for fighting for the middle class, his plans for making sure that young people have the opportunity to go to college, to have access to affordable health care.," said Ms. Psaki. "You heard him last night and you'll hear him again today lay out the difference between his view on Iraq and the right steps we took in drawing down troops there, and Mitt Romney's doubling down on maybe we should have left troops...several thousand troops in Iraq, instead of what the President's approach was. This election is about serious issues.  That's what the President talks about every day."

Lady Gaga (Photo: Getty)

Earlier this week, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer issued a statement in support of the pop singer Lady Gaga after Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro deemed her a "slut" due to her alleged onstage drug use. Today, Ms. Gaga returned the favor.

"To @scottmstringer of Manhattan, thanku for your support of my activism as a new yorker. You show political integrity + a modern vernacular," the musician wrote on Twitter. 

Mr. Stringer's statement praised Ms. Gaga's oeuvre as"a symbol of individuality and artistic expression." He also noted her activism on behalf of "marriage equality. Mr. Stringer is a friend of Ms. Gaga's parents and her father has contributed to his campaign fund.

If Mr. Stringer manages to turn even a fraction of Ms. Gaga's more than 29.7 million Twitter followers into votes, his political future would be quite bright.

Michael Biundo (Photo: Facebook)

With polls, particularly in the crucial swing states of Ohio and Florida, starting to show a strong lead for President Barack Obama, one Romney advisor is urging his friends to whistle a happy tune. Michael Biundo, Mitt Romney's deputy national coalitions director, posted a note to his Facebook page with a video of the insidious 1988 Bobby McFerrin hit "Don't Worry, Be Happy."

"Somebody I know, (not naming names mind you) needs this song," Mr. Biundo wrote.

Though Mr. Biundo kept it coy and didn't refer to anyone in particular, based on his close connection to Mr. Romney and the many headlines generated by the recent polls, it's hard not to read his message as a comment on the state of the presidential race.

Some Romney campaign aides and conservative pundits have disputed the polls showing President Obama pulling ahead. For their part, the Obama campaign has repeatedly tried to downplay expectations and vowed to run the race as though they're behind. Yesterday, the president's campaign press secretary, Jen Psaki, told reporters they were willing to make any effort necessary to ensure staffers and volunteers weren't distracted by the lead.

“If we have to issue horse blinders to everyone on our campaign staff, we will,” she said.

Mr. Biundo joined the Romney campaign in April after working as the campaign manager for Mr. Romney's top rival in the Republican primaries, Rick Santorum. His position involves organizing conservative voters on Mr. Romney's behalf.

View Mr. Biundo's Facebook post below.