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Stupak, who says, "I had a mission to build this tower," would certainly be buoyed by the glazed panic on a teenager's face as she is strapped into her Big Shot seat, and the giggling of her friends as they stumble off. Thrills, terror and idiot delight are the lures of Vegas. The Stratosphere gives you that and more: the feeling, as you gaze down on the city from your Olympian aerie, that you're above it all--that you own the joint. From here the Wynn and Bennett empires look like small properties on an electric Monopoly board. And this week, at least, Stupak can feel as if he owns Park Place and Boardwalk.
--With reporting by Jeffrey Ressner/Las Vegas