"My dad jumped in, grabbed an oar, fished the cage from the water, hunched over the soggy hamster and began to administer CPR," the Kerry daughter told the audience. "There are still to this day some reports of mouth-to-mouth, but I admit it's probably a trick of memory."

Actually, the textbook definition of CPR includes mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, though what techniques may be appropriate for hamster rescue is anybody's guess.

Too bad Sen. Kerry didn't have his trusty 8 mm camera along to re-enact his hamster heroism for posterity.

Editor's note: