How to Pull a Palin Punk: Perseverance

Nov. 3, 2008— -- The radio DJ who pulled off one of the most spectacular prank phone calls of all time --- he punk'd Gov. Sarah Palin by posing as French President Nicolas Sarkozy -- said he simply began at the bottom of her staff and worked his way up to get the Republican vice presidential nominee on the telephone.

Marc-Antoine Audette of Montreal radio station CKOI said he could not believe his good fortune -- or the international sensation his audacious hoax caused.

Audette, posing as Sarkozy, had a seven-minute on-air conversation with an unsuspecting Palin that began innocently enough. But before long, it had him talking about hunting from a helicopter, how his wife was "so hot in bed" and the Hustler magazine video "Nailin' Pailin."

The Palin campaign laughed the incident off. "Gov.Palin was mildly amused to learn that she had joined the ranks of heads of state, including the real President Sarkozy, and other celebrities in being targeted by these pranksters. C'est la vie," Palin spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt said in a written statement.

Audette said the prank started with a call to Alaska. "We started by calling the governor's office in Alaska, and after that, we were transferred from one person to another. It took us about four days. We spoke to about a dozen people, and that's how we were able to speak to her," Audette told ABCNews.

"Call it luck, call it perseverance, call it what you want -- but I never thought we would be able to do it."

Palin joins a long list of boldface names Audette and his radio partner Sebastien Trudel have punk'd. Bill Gates, Tiger Woods, Mick Jaggar, Donald Trump and Britney Spears are just a few of their prominent victims.

It was hardly the kind of attention Palin needed in the closing hours of a campaign in which she has sometimes been ridiculed as a politician who is not ready for prime-time. The stunt also touched off a debate about the operations of the McCain-Palin campaign.

"Can you imagine this happening to Barack Obama or to Joe Biden?" said New York Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf.