Based on his rhetoric, one of Obama’s chief goals is to reduce the bipartisan bickering that many feel has reduced the nation’s ability to get work done. But what if bipartisanship was possible without reducing wealth inequality (which as of now is a shade higher than it was at the height of the Great Depression)? Similarly, what if it weren’t possible to reduce wealth inequality WITH bi- (or post-)partisanship? Politics is about choices. About designing institutions one way vs. another. About representing one set of interests vs. another. About putting one set of issues on the backburner and another on the front.

I think post-partisanship is an issue that Obama is concerned enough about to break the bank on, even though it’s difficult–particularly at this moment–to imagine what post-partisanship looks like. I believe he IS concerned about reducing wealth inequality, but not to the same extent.