I thought this year was hilarious as well, but Kimmel sorta rushed some of the jokes.
His step-grandaughter seems to agree!
[Woody Allen]
Why didn’t I think of that?
[/Woody Allen]
But still the hamster and gerbil have a part in the joke. The joke is that the teller eats both animals (and both are the type that aren’t normally eaten).
There is no comparable meaning for the hockey mom in Obama’s joke.
I’ve learned a lot in this thread.
Poor frog. 
I don’t think he meant any reference to Palin, it’s just a riff on her pit bull-hockey mom joke and self deprecating humor about his experience eating dog meat.