Root, Root for the Cubbies

Last fall was a great time to be a Cubs fan. And longtime Montana politician and CVM graduate Dr. John Melcher’s (’50) love for the loveable losers was chronicled in the Missoulian. Melcher, who was the first veterinarian elected to the U.S. Senate, says he remembers listening to Cubs games with his mother on the radio when he was 6 and was recovering from a leg wound he suffered in World War II at the Battle of the Bulge the most previous times the team played in a World Series. Melcher served two terms in the U.S. Senate and his 1982 race became famous in college political science for his use of talking cows in a TV commercial. “Did you hear about those city-slickers out here bad-mouthing Doc Melcher?” one cow asks. “One of them was stepping in what they’ve been trying to sell,” a bull responds. “He was calling me a steer.” “That’ll come as some surprise to junior there,” the cow replies. No surprise that Melcher won that election.