Converts an AP Style date string to a Python datetime object.

apdate_to_datetime.py

def apdate_to_datetime(date):
    """
    Takes an AP-formatted date string and returns a Python datetime
    object. This will also work on any date formatted as either
    '%b. %d, %Y' or '%B %d, %Y'

    Examples:
        >>> apdate_to_datetime("Sept. 4, 1986")
        datetime.datetime(1986, 9, 4, 0, 0)
        >>> apdate_to_datetime("Sep. 4, 1986")
        datetime.datetime(1986, 9, 4, 0, 0)
        >>> apdate_to_datetime("September 4, 1986")
        datetime.datetime(1986, 9, 4, 0, 0)

    """
    from datetime import datetime as dt
    if date.startswith('Sept.'):
        date = date.replace('Sept.', 'Sep.')
    try:
        datetime_date = dt.strptime(date, "%b. %d, %Y")
    except ValueError:
        datetime_date = dt.strptime(date, "%B %d, %Y")
    return datetime_date