The Foreman Forecast: Slam dance

Forget Billy Joel crooning about a New York State of Mind. The presidential race is chain-sawing into the Empire State like Iggy and the Stooges in the glory days at CBGB. So heads up head bangers – here are three great Iggy tunes to guide you through my things to watch this week in politics.

1) GIMME DANGER: Bernie Sanders comes into NYC with enough rock star wins lately to make frontrunner, Hillary Clinton, look like she’s playing an acoustic set. But his winning states were full of Democrats favorably inclined to protest songs. Now Clinton is back in familiar territory with favorable polls, and in the latest CNN debate she turned her amp up to eleven for all the establishment Dems. She’s belting out the I Can Take the White House (…and He Can’t) blues, and she’s counting on a big win to give her back the momentum – not to mention loads of delegates. If she gets it, for all his power chords Sanders could find himself a lot closer to his final chorus.

2) SEARCH AND DESTROY: Donald Trump, like Clinton, is hoping his home state will shred his Republican opponents. Polls suggest it might. He has a whopping lead statewide and if he does well in the state’s 27 Congressional districts too, he could cart off all 95 delegates. That would push him substantially nearer to clinching the nomination before the convention this summer. But if he busts a string and gives up too many delegates to his challengers, listen for shouts for a contested convention to grow even louder.

3) RAW POWER: Whether the frontrunners pull away or not, you can bet your vintage Les Paul (yeah, that’s a nod to you, James Williamson) that the screams over “rigged” primaries will become ear-splitting. Not that any party bosses are listening. They’ve got iron thumbs on the process and no intention of letting up. But still, it doesn’t make the losers any happier…and when the gig goes bad, sometimes the only idea left is to smash the guitars.

(CNN’s Tom Foreman is the author of My Year of Running Dangerously. He digs Iggy’s new song, Gardenia.)