Initialize a string variable in Python: “” or None?

Question

Suppose I have a class with a string instance attribute. Should I initialize this attribute with \"\" value or None? Is either

Answer 1

empty_string = ""

if not empty_string:

    print "Empty string is not set"

=>Empty string is not set

if empty_string is not None:
    print "Empty string is not None"

=>Empty string is not None