**Less code, as long as it's readable is better than more code**

From a code size point of view I always go with the solution that requires the least amount of code that is still readable and maintainable.  Less code means less chance for defects and less code to maintain.

**Multiple Inheritance is not a good choice for Composition**

From a design stand point I would not use multiple inheritance the way you describe for the following reasons:

* attribute/method overloading

You are changing the way `data` is behaving in the different classes.  While it doesn't directly violate the [Open/Closed Principle of OO][1] with the initial implementation, any changes in the future have a good change of modifying the behaviors in one or more locations. You are also relying on behavior pulled through `super` which will only works correctly is you have the base classes ordered correctly in the class definition.

* fragile tight (vertical) coupling

Relying on the class definition to specify the correct ordering of classes create a fragile system.  It's fragile because you can't choose classes that have particular interfaces defined, you actually have to know the logic it's implementing so that order of the `super` calls get execute the correct logic in the correct order.  It's also an extremely tight coupling as a result. Since it's using class inheritance we also get vertical coupling which basically means there are implicit dependencies not just in individual methods, but potentially between the different layers (classes). 

* multiple inheritance pitfalls

Multiple inheritance in any language often has many pitfalls.  Python does some work to fix some issues with inheritance, however there are numerous ways of unintentionally confusing the [method resolution order (mro)][2] of classes.  These pitfalls always exist, and they are also a prime reason to avoid using multiple inheritance.

**Alternatives**

Alternatively I would leave data source specific logic in the classes (ie. *_CacheDB).  Then use either decorator or functional composition to add the generalized logic to automatically apply the transformations.


  [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open/closed_principle
  [2]: http://www.python.org/download/releases/2.3/mro/