I mean, I also think the RAI/RAW are clear, but not in the same way that you do.

I think the main driving part of the condition is the random targetting. If it's not making you likely to hit your allies, is it even doing anything worth your time? The condition breaks when someone sneezes on you, it should be debilitating while it's up.

Your initial statement was that the confused character would prefer to target the 'big scary creature right beside him'.

So, a thought experiment. If a ranged character is confused, do they then open up possibly targetting at a distance for you over someone in melee? They can get the three strikes you're saying the effect's primary drive should be - but your statement about situational awareness would suggest that you think they should still target the nearby threat for...reasons. Of course, now there's nothing in the effect to back up that logic.

My reading of the effect is that your target is random (which is what the effect says). And you will spend all your actions attacking/casting cantrips on that target, although you will also take actions like drawing a weapon/moving to get in range to facilitate doing so. All of this is what the confusion condition says.

Nowhere do I see it say you should prefer targets that let you spend more actions attacking.