In Linux I just use Gedit. In windows I settle for Notepad2. With python having help built into the interpreter, anything more than line numbering, simple syntax highlighting, and auto-indent when you hit enter just doesn't seem necessary. Vim has b and c, but not a.
Using Kate for Python would probably be very similar to using Gedit (from my limited experience with Kate). -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
