Alternate syntax for catching exceptions: except TypeError as exc
was introduced in Python 3.0 and Python 2.6. (See What's New in Python 2.6 - PEP 3110: Exception-Handling Changes)
Maybe you're using lower version of Python and using setuptools 2.x.
According to Setuptools pypi page:
Python 2.4 and Python 2.5 support
Setuptools 2.0 and later requires Python 2.6 or later. To install setuptools on Python 2.4 or Python 2.5, use the bootstrap script for Setuptools 1.x: https://bitbucket.org/pypa/setuptools/raw/bootstrap-py24/ez_setup.py.
Either upgrade your Python to a newer version (at least Python 2.6) or use setuptools 1.x.