Hail and farewell, Jack

Convention goers hanging out in the Mayo Civic Center's auditorium -- where vendors had booths set up, and where Nelson-Pallmeyer's and opponent Al Franken's supporters had tables directly across the room from each other -- hauled chairs in front of televisions to listen to U.S. Senate candidate Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer's concession speech Saturday afternoon.

The auditorium crowd was, for the most part, silent. Jack backers seemed resigned, applauding only at the end of his speech.

By the time Franken took the podium to accept the nomination, Nelson-Pallmeyer's supporters had quietly slipped away from their spots in front of the monitors. Some returned to their places in his booth, shook hands and exchanged (sometimes tearful) hugs with fellow believers.

That's the thing about politics: Every time someone wins, someone else has to lose.