[python] Comparing a variable with a string python not working when redirecting from bash script

First I'll show you both the bash and python script (both are in the /bin directory on my mac):

The bash script (esh_1):

#! /bin/bash  echo -n "Enter bash or natural-language command: " read INPUT echo $INPUT > ~/USER_INPUT.txt $INPUT if (( $? )); then echo Redirected to Python Script; esh_2; cat ~/USER_INPUT.txt; else echo Did not redirect to Python Script;  fi esh_1 

The python script (esh_2):

#! /usr/bin/python2.7  with open('/Users/bendowling/USER_INPUT.txt', 'r') as UserInputFile:     UserInput = UserInputFile.read()  UserInputFile = open('/Users/bendowling/USER_INPUT.txt', 'w+')  if UserInput == 'List contents':     UserInputFile.write("ls") else:     print "Didn't work"  UserInputFile.close() 

The bash script takes the user's input, stores it in a temporary file called USER_INPUT.txt, and checks if it runs correctly. If it doesn't, it calls esh_2 (the python script) which reads the USER_INPUT.txt file, taking the user's input. It then checks if it's equal to the string "List contents". If it is, then it writes "ls" to the text file. It then closes the file. The bash file then cats the command stored in the text file (in the future I will make it run it as a command). The script then starts again.

The problem is that when I enter "List contents" into the shell, it doesn't work, thus printing "Didn't work". However, if I go into the text file myself and write "List contents", the python script works and writes "ls" to the text file. I have no clue why this is happening. I would gladly appreciate any help on this matter.

Thanks, b3n