The Eisenhower name has been associated with Republicans ever since the great general joined the Grand Old Party to seek the 1952 presidential nomination — but this week it is being subsumed under the Obama banner.

It began back in February, when Ike’s granddaughter Susan, a mover and shaker in her own right in foreign affairs and business consulting, wrote a column announcing her support for Obama. She followed Aug. 21 with a new column, for The National Interest online, announcing that she was leaving the Republican Party for good, registering as an independent — and re-emphasizing her support for Obama. She did so as the Democratic convention was being made ready in her grandmother Mamie’s hometown of Denver.