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Bush Checks in on Kennedy

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May 19, 2008 11:50 AM

ABC News' Kate Snow Reports: President George W. Bush called Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., to wish him well in his recovery.  Bush did not reach Kennedy, who was undergoing tests at the time of the call, but instead talked to the Senator's wife, Vicki Kennedy.

"Take care of my friend," Bush told Mrs. Kennedy, according to Stephanie Cutter, a Democratic strategist and Kennedy family spokesperson.

Kennedy, 76, is the last of three brothers who changed the American political scene in the 1960s, and has been recuperating at Massachusetts General Hospital since suffering a seizure Saturday while at the Kennedy family compound in Hyannisport, Mass.

The Senator was taken by ambulance to a Cape Cod hospital in the morning and later flown to Boston by helicopter.

Kennedy is being evaluated by doctors to determine the cause of the seizure, but results are not expected until later Monday or Tuesday. 

"Preliminary tests have determined that he has not suffered a stroke and is not in any immediate danger," Kennedy's physician Dr. Larry Ronan said Saturday evening. "He's resting comfortably, and watching the Red Sox game with his family.

Friends and family are relieved that he did not suffer a stroke, as initially feared. But they're still a bit nervous until doctors tell them exactly what caused the seizure.

Kennedy spent much of Sunday afternoon watching sports on television: first the Boston Red Sox game, then the Boston Celtics' playoff game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

He also took a lot of calls Sunday including calls from Sens. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill.

"He sounded great, he sounded like his, his usual self," Obama told reporters after the phone call. "Obviously, people are still concerned about finding out exactly what happened. I'm just thrilled that Teddy's back on the mend."

Kennedy also, according to Cutter, took in "60 Minutes" on Sunday night, which featured a story on Iraqi translators trying to achieve political asylum in the United States.  Kennedy has a pending Senate bill on the subject.

Watch Monday's 'Good Morning America' for a full clip on Kennedy's recovery by clicking here and read The Note every morning for all the latest in politics, including news from the 2008 campaign trail.

May 19, 2008 in Tancredo, Tom, Veepstakes | Permalink | User Comments (13)

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you dont know what appeasment means do you?

Posted by: bhrandon | May 19, 2008 12:15:29 PM

Creature of Washington?

Posted by: geevill | May 19, 2008 12:16:56 PM

i love how bush and cheney change what words mean, and then all their followers and rush ditto heads embrace the meaning without knowing what it means...

chris matthews exposed your kind... lol nice try though

Posted by: bhrandon | May 19, 2008 12:17:01 PM

LOL csquan please

thats what bush and mccain say...

to appease someone you have to give them something

they drew a line between Neville Chamberlain A REPUBLICAN who signed the munich agreement

GIVING (theres the appeasment)

adolf hitler part of Czechoslovakia

which is no longer a country but mccain wants to put a weapon defense system there

Posted by: bhrandon | May 19, 2008 12:34:10 PM

and where did you hear BIDEN LOL make this so called appeasement charge of obama?

Fox news LOL

or possibly ABC

Posted by: bhrandon | May 19, 2008 12:36:38 PM

For bhrandon. Please. Chamberlain was not a Republican. He was British, and shared many liberal Americans' views that peace is obtainable through "ingenious argument" as well as the view that the state should be responsible for the economic welfare of all citizens. He authored the infamous "Widows, Orphans, and Old Age Pensions Act 1925," which did much to foster the development of the welfare state in Britain. These views destroyed the British Empire and reduced their nation to the third level irrelevant nation it has sadly become.

Posted by: john tyler | May 19, 2008 12:42:49 PM

Bush is such a class act. Teddy Kennedy is not. Ted would have never wished Bush well.

Posted by: Jo | May 19, 2008 12:46:06 PM

john tyler,

you are correct in my haste i lumped the senator that bush was talking about in with the prime minister who was actually the person doing the appeasing

Posted by: bhrandon | May 19, 2008 12:54:10 PM

csquan why do you feel the need to use baracks middle name?

does it have significance for you?
or do you simply use everyones middle name when talking about them?

Posted by: bhrandon | May 19, 2008 1:02:27 PM

To appease somone does not mean giving them anything. You can appease someone by staying on the sidelines and doing nothing. Either one can be very dangerous. We need a president who knows when to act and how to act. It's a matter of good judgment. To talk with every rogue regime is a waste of political clout. You don't see the pope seeking counsel from the altar boy! Peace through strength. If your opponents want to flex their muscles, show them your bombs! OOPS, I guess I must be one of those war mongers like Ronald Reagan was, who caused the collapse of the former Soviet Union using that exact strategy. Wake up you dimwitted liberals!

Posted by: JayBird | May 19, 2008 1:20:06 PM

Feel better, Teddy, my friend. You've served our Commonwealth well over the years! Go Sox and C's!

Posted by: Andrew | May 19, 2008 4:40:34 PM

An Obama presidency would be a repeat of a Bush presidency because he would suffer from the same flaw--no real experience. Much of the trouble we are in today stems from the fact that Bush was to inexperienced to be President--but he was very popular. Obama is very popular but also lacks the real experience it takes to run this county. We do not need four more years of on the job training.

You may say he will have trusted advisors but look who is lining up with him. All the big losers in the Democratic party. He has a who stable of losers. Kerry, Edwards, Chris Dodd, Richardson etc. Even Teddy Kennedy is a loser because he couldn't deliver Mass. for Obama in primary.

Posted by: shardee | May 20, 2008 11:25:10 AM

I see an excellent opportunity for democratic women to switch parties. The Republican party is in chaos. Now may be the time for pro- choice women to secure a foothold in the Repbulican party. They could replace the evangelicals. If the democrats choose a man over a woman then I think the message is clear. Let the men have the party.

Posted by: shardee | May 20, 2008 11:37:47 AM

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