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Fellow Pols Shaken by Kennedy Diagnosis

Colleagues met news with 'stunned silence'

By Sam Gale Rosen,  Newser Staff

Posted May 20, 2008 2:49 PM CDT

(Newser) – Ted Kennedy's Senate colleagues reacted to news that the lawmaker has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor with "stunned silence," Ben Nelson of Nebraska tells the Hill. "I am having a hard time remembering a day in my 34 years here when I felt this badly," said a visibly shaken Patrick Leahy of Vermont.

Across the aisle, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said he was "hoping for the best and for a speedy recovery." "We hope and pray that they will be able to treat it and that he will experience a full recovery," said John McCain, calling Kennedy "the last lion in the Senate." "Every one of us knows what a big heart this fellow has," said John Kerry.

Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., pauses while speaking about the Columbia Free Trade agreement and Cuban Independence Day on Tuesday, May 20, 2008, in Miami.
Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., pauses while speaking about the Columbia Free Trade agreement and Cuban Independence Day on Tuesday, May 20, 2008, in Miami.   (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
U.S.Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.,  speaks at a news conference in Burlington, Vt., Friday, March 28, 2008.
U.S.Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., speaks at a news conference in Burlington, Vt., Friday, March 28, 2008.   (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., right, walks to the microphone with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., left, to make a statement on the health of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., right, walks to the microphone with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., left, to make a statement on the health of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.   (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
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