President Barack Obama wasn’t pulling any punches for Republican Mitt Romney in his conversation with Rolling Stone magazine, yet the Romney campaign responded today with a somewhat more general rebuttal.

Writing about a forthcoming Rolling Stone cover  – “Obama and the Road Ahead: The Rolling Stone Interview,” by Douglas Brinkley — Politico’s Mike Allen  revealed  this excerpt this morning: “We arrived at the Oval Office for our 45-minute interview … on the morning of October 11th. … As we left the Oval Office, executive editor Eric Bates told Obama that he had asked his six-year-old if there was anything she wanted him to say to the president. … [S]he said, ‘Tell him: You can do it.’

“Obama grinned. … ‘You know, kids have good instincts,’ Obama offered. ‘They look at the other guy and say, “Well, that’s a bullshitter, I can tell.”‘” according to Allen’s account.

The executive editor of Rolling Stone was somewhat amused by Allen’s “scoop.” The magazine is on the newsstands in New York, he noted, asking his folks to send us a copy by e-mail for the full context.