Quinn's Father Is Sidelined - NYTimes.com Around Christine C. Quinn's campaign headquarters, her father, Lawrence, an Irish-wisdom-collecting, tough-love-dispensing octogenarian, is known as her "not-so-secret weapon," routinely trotted out (in his words) for union endorsements, veterans" parades and visits to senior centers. By all accounts, he was poised to play a starring role in her campaign this summer. But Mr. Quinn, a former union steward and die-hard Democrat who is known simply and affectionately as L.Q., has hit a rough patch that has, for the moment, deprived Ms. Quinn of her essential political sidekick. It started this summer with a troubled heart valve. Then there was a buildup of blood behind his knee. Next a fracture in his femur. Now he needs a new knee. It's enough to discourage even the most fatalistic of Irishmen. "We are not focusing on the Irish theory of domino disaster," Ms. Quinn said, wryly, in an interview. Much to Mr. Quinn's chagrin, his medical setbacks have already forced him to skip the gay pride parade, the announcement of an endorsement from the Hotel Trades Council and the reopening of the Statue of Liberty. "I am definitely missing him on the campaign trail," Ms. Quinn said. Tuesday was supposed to be a bright spot: he was scheduled to have knee surgery and Cardinal Edward M. Egan, the retired archbishop of New York, called to wish him well. But at the last minute, doctors ruled that the potassium levels in Mr. Quinn's blood were dangerously high, a fact that his daughter learned while on the phone with a reporter. "That is bad news," Ms. Quinn said, becoming emotional as the information settled in. He is going to be very depressed. For now, the surgery has been rescheduled for Thursday. In between regaling nurses about the history of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive and enduring a battery of medical tests, Mr. Quinn has expressed a determination to return to campaigning by August, his daughter said. Even if his leg is still sore, the campaign is mapping out a plan for a digital presence: a Twitter account for the famously opinionated, if technologically challenged, Mr. Quinn. In a close race, Ms. Quinn said, it might be "just the right thing to get us over the hump."