No debate here. Everything you say is true.... at least until I got my pally to Gianthold. Getting ganked every visit by the marut in PotP raised a red flag. Getting one-shotted by the Reaver, and finding myself in passenger status in that Raid sure put a damper on things. And forget about the Vale and Shroud!
I did make it to level 15.
Only a dwarf pally has any hope of making it in the high levels. That's because the pally is lacking in, and needs 3 things to play high-level content. Hit Points, Hit Points, and Hit Points. Yeah my pally was a drow. I can't just make myself make a dwarf, and so it goes.
I needed a slot for monk anyway, so the status of the paladin class is of no concern.