>>> import time
>>> import datetime
>>> dt = datetime.datetime.strptime('2012-02-09', '%Y-%m-%d')
>>> time.mktime(dt.timetuple())
1328774400.0

>>> dt = datetime.datetime(year=2012, month=2, day=9)
>>> time.mktime(dt.timetuple())
1328774400.0

>>> import datetime
>>> import time
>>> date1 = datetime.date(year=2012,day=02,month=02)
>>> date2 = datetime.datetime.combine(date1,datetime.time())
>>> date2
datetime.datetime(2012, 2, 2, 0, 0)
>>> tstamp = time.mktime(date2.timetuple())
>>> tstamp
1328121000.0

from datetime import datetime

epoch = datetime(1970, 1, 1)
d = datetime(2012, 2, 10)

print (d - epoch).total_seconds()