Wow--cool site. I'm a 23 year old World War II buff--very excited to see this website. And I'll admit it up front, I am prejudiced toward the P-38 in this discussion. But I did learn some about the Mosquito at the same time!
Several points to make that haven't been, if you don't mind:
1. One of the most important roles of the P-38 has been totally overlooked in this discussion--that of a long-range bomber escort. Our B-17's and 24's were being chewed up by the Luftwaffe fighters and the P-47, although an incredible fighter in its own right, didn't have the range at the time. The P-38 more than filled this gap. I've never heard of the Mosquito providing escort for anything.
2. When discussing the merits of a "bomber role" vs. a "fighter role," don't just focus on payload. Think of the destructive capability of the aircraft as a whole. As a "Fighter Bomber" the P-38 was absolutely feared and did more from the air to win the Normandy invasion. Read "Invasion--They're Coming!" by Paul Carell and you will see what a devastating effect the fighter bombers had, even when using smaller bombs and strafing a lot. The German reinforcements couldn't move during the day! The Mosquito might have done this too but I haven't heard much about it.
3. A P-38 was tested with Merlin engines (a great engine design, and yes, British) and performed fantastically. But by then the P-51 and all of the British planes were taking nearly all of the Merlins and the P-38 took a back seat to it. I know we're not playing "What if's" here...but...that was an advantage the Mosquito had.
4. Richard Bong, USA top ace and P-38 pilot, was able to turn inside of Japanese
Zeros. No one can discount that achievement.
I don't think anyone's going to be convinced it was better by these points, but hey, give cred where cred is due. Fighter, intercepter, escort, fighter-bomber, recon, the P-38 did whatever was asked of it. The Mosquito was an incredible design and did everything that was asked of it as well.
I think most of the Lighting advocates would agree that the P-38 gets dismissed as a sub-par airplane that was quickly replaced while the Mosquito gets the "glamour" in most cases. Maybe that's why we're so passionate about it.
Jamon