The lives of two hamsters have become part of the presidential campaign lore of 2008. As you may recall, the hamsters of both the Bush and Kerry families were mentioned at the recent political conventions. The Kerry daughters told of how their father performed mouth-to-mouth to revive their hamster. The Bush daughters poked fun at that Kerry story, and said their hamster had died. A Kerry backer brought the subject up this week at a Kerry campaign event in Des Moines. The woman thanked Kerry on behalf of her two grandsons for saving his daughter’s hamster. She said it’s a “stark contrast” with the Bush situation, because their hamster “did not make it.” Kerry said he’s taken “a lot of flack” for the hamster story.Kerry says “the hamster was never quite the same, but lived.” The Bush twins campaigned in Iowa this past week, but did not answer questions from reporters on this or any topic. First Lady Laura Bush is to be in Iowa on Monday, and will perhaps offer her own version of the hamster story.