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 This is why you never rappel down a waterfall alone. The vinyl tracklist can be very different from what you know. Kristi Noem is catching some flak over her new home. Sudden, intense cloudbursts leave at least 300 dead. Report an error