Sorry if I missed the boat, but only just now saw this PEP.

Glancing through the PEP, I don't see mentioned anywhere the SQL alternative of having a coalesce() function: https://www.postgresql.org/docs/9.6/static/functions-conditional.html#FUNCTIONS-COALESCE-NVL-IFNULL

In Python, something like this:

def coalesce(*args):

    for arg in args:

        if arg is not None:

             return arg

    return None

Just drop it into builtins, and voila.   No need for lengthy discussions about which operator to use because IMHO it needs no operator.

Sure, it's not as sexy as a fancy new operator, nor as headline grabbing, but it is pretty useful.