The former would mean Argo has to overcome 80 years of Oscar history to take Best Picture without even a nomination for Best Director, and the latter means Lincoln has to overcome a softening status amid a race that became highly competitive with strong challengers in the home stretch.

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Both California cities have "highly educated populations, strong university demographics and a tourist base, " he says.

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In contrast, the executive branch has articulated a strong and highly specific reason for withholding the documents at issue: Forced disclosure to Congress of internal deliberations concerning how best to interact with Congress would undermine the executive's capacity to function as a co-equal branch.

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