I agree with your feelings about Elmers waterproof glue. I didn't like it either. I don't like any glue that's too thick - it just seems like it's not going to penetrate the wood fibers well.

I found the same as you with tightbond waterproof. Since it's not water soulouble in about a half hour, it makes clean up with a sponge really tough where as plain old Elmers Carpenters works well for me. I sometimes even thin my glue a tiny bit for stripping work.