My 3 mains are 45 clc, 46 pally and 48 chanter and I have enjoyed playing all of them since they play very differently.
The Pally is basically a weaker version of the war but with a significant advantage of being a self healing one. I agree that the heal lines are very weak early on, but don't forget Lay of Hands for full heal once a day - Clcs dont get complete heal until their late 30s (39 I think of the top of my head). The pally will be able to solo well into their 30s while the clc is pretty tapped out for combat in the 20s. Pallys also get root, stun, and soothe which will become more important as you progress. They can also rez in a pinch, but will always be weaker in spells than clcs (but stronger in combat). Pallys are popular pullers in LDON, though other classes shine here as well not all of them can MT.
Clerics are awesome in groups, between bufs and healing to an occansional root or nuke if needed. Groups can succed without a clc in a pinch, but it makes it a major challenge in most cases. There is a reason that Clerics are the most popular class for LDON and almost never have to wait for a group.
We have 2 accounts and if you put a clc and pally together as a small group, you will find that they compliment each other quite well.
Bottom line is that both are good classes to play, but clcs really should be in groups while pallys have more flexibility in soloing.