Hear the roar from that old empty core It's a tale worthy of a boxing movie. A retired champion, with mixed feelings about the current title-holder, notices a flaw in the younger man's style and puts aside their past differences to advise him on how to beat a formidable challenger. The viewer can only wonder about the old man's motivation. Does he want to get back in the fight game as a manager? Has he grown to like the new champ? Or is his love for the sweet science so overwhelming he can't keep away from the ring? But in this case, the principals aren't pugilists. They are politicians, according to an account on the Politico web site this week that details the advice Bill Clinton, the former US president, has supposedly been giving to Barack Obama. The report is recommended for anyone who takes an interest in politics as a contact sport, because it takes you inside the mind of an actual puncher - Mr Clinton, who is described as a "campaign whisperer and fundraiser" in the dispatch. Mr Clinton, Politico says, has been counselling the Obama campaign to stop attacking Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee, as a flip-flopper who "lacked any real moral or political "core" ." The former president, it turns out, thinks this "empty-core approach" has little knockout potential. Talk about the voice of experience! Like the former champion he is, Mr Clinton has been there and done that. He probably has a better sense of the public's ability to forgive politicians for insincerity than anyone else in this country. Lord knows, Mr Clinton tried the American people's patience on this front. When he was accused of having an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, he said: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky." When that didn't work, he added: "Indeed, I did have a relationship with Miss Lewinsky that was not appropriate." His reward has been a retirement marked by widespread popularity - and I can't say I'm completely surprised. As our religious literature makes clear, sinners are rampant in this world and the number of people who possess a solidly constructed core is undoubtedly smaller than the Creator had hoped. By urging Mr Obama to focus on something less morally fibrous than "core" issues, Mr Clinton undoubtedly speaks for millions of other Americans who would find it difficult to endure a long campaign dedicated to the proposition that personal consistency is a prerequisite for power. He feels our pain - still, after all these years. He also senses an opportunity. Don't forget, Messrs Clinton and Romney are more kindred spirits than it might appear at first. During the stormier parts of his tenure, Mr Clinton turned to a strategy of "triangulation," meaning he tried to split the difference with his Republican critics in Congress. During his time on the campaign trail, Mr Romney underwent a similar ordeal as he sought to win over religious conservatives. Mr Clinton can empathise with Mr Romney. But his empathy is that of a boxer, not a social worker, and as a result he has been urging Mr Obama to exploit "Romney's greatest vulnerability: an embrace of a brand of Tea Party conservatism that turns off Hispanics, women and moderate independents," according to Politico. In the parlance of the prizefighting ring, Mr Clinton feels Mr Romney has backed himself into a corner. That means it's time for the president to pummel the Republican, or as Politico puts it, "to focus almost exclusively on Romney's description of himself as a "severe conservative," to deny him any chance to tack back to the centre." This kind of aggression isn't necessarily Mr Obama's style. It's not that Mr Obama won't fight; I disagree with critics of the president who call him a political wimp. Rather, I see Mr Obama as more of a scientific boxer in the manner of the rope-a-dope-era Muhammad Ali, willing to absorb substantial punishment until he sees a clear opening and can counterpunch. Still, it appears Mr Clinton's advice is having an impact; Mr Obama and his surrogates have been busier fighters of late. Hand-wringing over Mr Romney's Hamlet-like tendencies has given way to more sustained anti-Republican jabbing over issues ranging from tax rates for the rich to interest rates for student loans. The question now is where do we go from here. In the old movies, the young champion and the old veteran would undoubtedly walk off into the sunset as friends. US politics, on the other hand, promises more in the way of plot twists.