Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that interpreted vs compiled has far more to do with python's speed then abstraction in this case. Also the post you linked literally states that abstraction doesn't necessarily mean slow.
If making a language compiled is a magic bullet for speed, why isn't every language compiled? Because they have different levels of abstraction that lend their implementation to compilation or interpretation. You're just citing a specific example of one of the tradeoffs made in the language design that falls along those three axes.
