Politics | Ted Kennedy Fellow Pols Shaken by Kennedy Diagnosis Colleagues met news with 'stunned silence' By Sam Gale Rosen Posted May 20, 2008 2:49 PM CDT Copied 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) 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. Read These Next Her blood isn't compatible with anyone else's. Rubio says the fate of Iran's conversion facility is what matters. Iran's supreme leader makes first public comments since ceasefire. Some of the most explosive Diddy allegations are dropped. Report an error