That’s because, like stimulus and health care, Democrats turned the financial regulation bill into a monstrosity. What started as a promise to streamline and modernize the financial system turned into 2,300 pages of new agencies and new powers for the very authorities that fomented the financial crisis. The bill is laden with uncertainty and brimming with costly regulations on small businesses. Sen. Chris Dodd and Rep. Barney Frank made it easy for Republicans to pronounce their bill more Obama Big Government—a “Main Street takeover”—and to justify their votes against it…

There are, of course, liberals in Congress and the White House for whom this political risk means little. As with health care, the true believers viewed the financial bill as another opportunity to vastly expand government control over the economy, and move the U.S. closer to the European system. They got their ideological victory; never mind about the political fallout.

But for those Democrats worried about keeping their jobs, it’s far from clear this bill will help. The financial regulation bill was cast from the same big-government, antibusiness mold as ObamaCare and the stimulus. The public turns against those laws by the day. Maybe financial regulation will prove third time lucky for this majority. They shouldn’t count on it.