国际英语新闻：White House defends Obama, says enjoys party support

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- A senior White House aide on Sunday said U.S. President Barack Obama still enjoyed wide support from Democrats despite the tax cut deal fallout, and sees no one challenge the president in party primary before the presidential election in 2012.

In response to a question on cnn's State of the Union broadcast on Sunday, David Axelrod, Obama's senior aide, said: "I really don 't" expect Obama to have a challenge in the primary.

"I can't predict obviously anybody can file for an office but I see strong support among Democrats for this president. They understand that he's fighting hard, trying hard to move this country forward. They understand what we've accomplished already," said Axelrod.

Obama is facing party revolt over a tax cut deal he reached with Congressional Republicans. The deal, announced on Monday evening, would extend the soon-to-expire Bush-era tax cuts at all income levels for another two years, while extending emergency jobless benefits through 2011.

The framework agreement, especially the extension of tax cut for the wealthiest Americans, had sparked criticism from some congressional Democratic leaders over the past days, who believed that Obama did not fight hard enough and his conciliatory moves gave an olive branch to the GOP too quickly.

Axelrod dismissed the notion that Obama is tacking back to the center, saying "the president is who the president always has been. He's someone trying to solve problems for the American people."