What do party conventions mean these days when the nominee is all but locked in weeks or months before the Big Party?
Not a whole lot, but they do have some importance, says Ken Ciboski, a political science professor at Wichita State University. 
“…oftentimes these parties will, at the conventions then, tout individuals who are going to be future candidates, maybe for president or maybe somebody who is running for the Senate, and they are going to be big politicos for the party in the future,” he said in a podcast on WSU’s web site.
That bodes well for Sen. Sam Brownback, who will speak just a few spots back from Sen. John McCain on Thursday night in St. Paul. Brownback has been rumored as a potential gubernatorial candidate in 2010. The speech isn’t in prime time, but it will come at a time when the Xcel Energy Center is packed in preparation for McCain, and it offers a lot of free face time with party faithful and C-SPAN viewers.