ConfigParser with defaults and dictionary return

custom_config_parser.py

# Custom ConfigParser class
# Perhaps the defaults should be passed into this class for the purposes of others using this, but is scrubbed code from something
# I'll be using for my own purposes, and I wanted config stuff self-contained, and I'm still new to this so meh :)

import ConfigParser

class CustomConfigParser(ConfigParser.ConfigParser):
    def __init__(self):
        ConfigParser.ConfigParser.__init__(self)
        # Change as necessary for your needs. Define all potential keys and their defaults here
        self.defaults = {
                'section1':
                {
                    'foo': '',
                    'bar': '',
                    'baz': '',
                },
                'connection':
                {
                    'hostname': 'example.com',
                    'port': '12345',
                    'username': 'guest',
                    'password': 'guest'
                }
        }

    def as_dict(self):
        config_data = {}

        for ini_section_key in self.defaults:
            config_data[ini_section_key] = {}
            for ini_key, ini_value in self.defaults[ini_section_key].iteritem():
                try:
                    config_data[ini_section_key][ini_key] = self.get(ini_section_key, ini_key)
                except (ConfigParser.NoSectionError, ConfigParser.NoOptionError):
                    config_data[ini_section_key][ini_key] = ini_value
        return config_data