X-35 and X-32 are both in the air museum at Pax River so it's easy to compare and contrast these days, at least on the looks...
At the time of the decision LM were still supposed to be building lots of F-22 so not sure about the company politics argument. Personally I suspect thst LM won it as they already had experience of building a '5th Gen' fighter. A lot of people on the programme are ex-F-22, ex-F-117, experienced Skunk works personnel.
Also the decisions were being made by fast jet mates, when style and ego are all important which would you rather be seen stepping out of??
