By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, a leadingDemocrat and patriarch of a prominent American politicaldynasty, was hospitalized on Saturday after suffering a seizureat his Cape Cod vacation home.
Kennedy, 76, was rushed from the family compound atHyannisport, Massachusetts, to Cape Cod Hospital at 9 a.m.(2:00 p.m. British time), before being airlifted to Boston.
"He is undergoing a battery of tests at MassachusettsGeneral Hospital to determine the cause of the seizure," hisoffice in Washington said in a statement.
A Kennedy aide said later that by Saturday afternoon thesenator was joking with family members.
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, after talking withKennedy's wife, Vicki, told reporters in Reno, Nevada, that thesenator "will be fine," a Reid aide said.
Reid said the senator had a seizure, but "woke upfighting," the aide added.
The Boston Globe reported Kennedy, youngest brother ofassassinated U.S. President John F. Kennedy, suffered oneseizure at his Cape Cod home and a second seizure aboard thehelicopter transport flight to Boston.
Family members gathered at the hospital. His sons EdwardKennedy Jr. and Patrick and daughter Kara as well as his nephewJoe Kennedy and niece Caroline Kennedy came to the hospital,according a Reuters photographer at the scene.
Kennedy, the second-longest serving member of the currentU.S. Senate, is a leading liberal voice in the United Statesand has actively campaigned for Barack Obama in his bid tobecome the Democratic nominee in the November presidentialelection.
"As I've said many times before, Ted Kennedy is a giant inAmerican political history. He's done more for the health careof others than just about anybody in history," Obama toldreporters during a visit to a hospital in Eugene, Oregon.
"We are going to be rooting for him, and I, I insist onbeing optimistic about how it's going to turn out."
Campaigning in Kentucky, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Obama'srival for the Democratic nomination, offered her wishes for thesenator's quick recovery.
Kennedy has been a vocal critic of Republican PresidentGeorge W. Bush, particularly on his Iraq war, tax cuts for thewealthy and conservative nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court whohe fears will push the high court to the right.
But he also worked closely with Republicans on legislationincluding Republican presidential candidate John McCain on thecontroversial immigration issue.
"He is a legendary lawmaker," McCain said in a statement."When we have worked together, he has been a skillful, fair andgenerous partner. I consider it a great privilege to call himmy friend."
HEALTH SCARES
The white-haired senator has had other brushes with illhealth. He had preventive surgery at Boston's MassachusettsGeneral Hospital in October to unclog a partially blockedcarotid artery in his neck.
The blockage was discovered during a routine check ofKennedy's back and spine, doctors said. A blocked carotidartery can lead to a stroke and death, they said at the time.
Kennedy has suffered from back problems since a plane crashin 1964 in which the pilot and one of Kennedy's aides werekilled and the senator was pulled from the wreckage with apunctured lung, broken ribs and internal bleeding.
Kennedy came to the Senate in November 1962 to fill a seatearlier held by his older brother, then President John Kennedy.He currently serves as chairman of the Senate Committee onHealth, Education, Labour and Pensions.
He ran for president in 1980, but his White House ambitionshad never recovered from Chappaquiddick, the July 1969 accidentwhen his car plunged off a bridge on a Massachusetts island anda young woman riding with him, Mary Jo Kopechne, drowned.Kennedy lost the 1980 party nomination to Jimmy Carter whofailed in his bid for a second White House term.
Kennedy helped win an increase in the national minimum wagethis year and worked with Republicans to produce broadimmigration reform, which failed in the Senate after stiffopposition from conservative Republicans.
His oldest brother, Joseph Jr, died as a World War II flierwhen his bomber exploded over the English Channel. John becameAmerica's first and so far only Roman Catholic president in1960 and was assassinated in 1963. Robert was assassinatedduring his 1968 presidential campaign.
(Additional reporting by Thomas Ferraro, Charles Abbott,and Doina Chiacu in Washington, Jeff Mason in Eugene, Oregon,and Caren Bohan in New York; Writing by Jason Szep. Editing byJackie Frank)
