Which is better, National Christmas Tree or Capitol Christmas Tree?

Of all the feuds over the White House and Congress in recent history, here’s one you may not know about: the Christmas tree.

There’s the National Christmas Tree, outside the White House on the Ellipse. And then there’s the Capitol Christmas Tree, a couple of miles away, on the grounds outside that building.

Each tree has its fans and detractors, just as with the institutions themselves.

But we have to shed our usual journalistic objectivity for this issue:

The National Christmas Tree looks like one of the clanging monstrosities that Charlie Brown and Linus find for sale at the lot in “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” decorated by some professional designer. It’s not so bad from a distance, but when you get up close it screams fake. It’s White House message control gone bonkers.

The Capitol Christmas Tree, on the other hand, looks like a real tree, trimmed by you and me. Little twinkling lights, handmade ornaments.

Right up till the 1980s, if you look at historical photos, there’s a nice-looking Christmas tree outside the White House. There are no photos of the tree on its website between 1983 and 2002, but during those decades something clearly changed, as the 2002 model looks more like a ceramic figure than a living object.

From then on, you can tell there’s a tree in there somewhere, but it’s hard to see under the glittering capes that seem simply draped over the unsuspecting tree. Some years it’s even had hair – OK, branch – extensions.

The Capitol Christmas Tree, meanwhile, has a cozy, homespun vibe. Most of its ornaments are made by schoolchildren in the same state that that year’s tree came from. This year it’s Alaska.

The trees’ lights come on at nightfall through New Year’s Day. Don’t just go see one of them, though. You have to check them both out, for comparison.

Where do you stand in the Christmas tree rivalry? Do you love the decorator perfection of the National Christmas Tree, prefer the more old-fashioned charms of the Capitol tree – or think we’ve obviously fallen into the eggnog and should get back to reporting on what’s going on inside these buildings instead of outside them?

This story was originally published December 5, 2015 at 11:00 PM with the headline "Which is better, National Christmas Tree or Capitol Christmas Tree?."