Bannon must be feeling the loss of power. In trying to keep his currency strong in the political marketplace, he went on “60 Minutes” on Sunday. Why else would he do it? But within the Trump-hating media there is a limit to how much airtime it will give Bannon. His half-life as a political mastermind is uncertain at best.

Actually, it is hard to determine how much political potency Bannon ever really had. He came to the Trump campaign late, really did not have a defined role and then wandered into the White House without any particular expertise or portfolio. But Bannon was an interesting guy who I always thought deserved some respect and benefit of the doubt. After all, he had been a military officer and went on to have a successful career in banking. He displayed some creativity in Hollywood and he was the engine behind Breitbart. He even had a daughter who went to West Point. While I could never tell you what Bannon did during the campaign or at the White House, I never thought he was the cause of Trump’s problems.

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It wasn’t Bannon that was getting up at 5 a.m. and telling Trump to tweet a bunch of crazy things.

Anyway, one thing that struck me during the “60 Minutes” interview was how Bannon spoke of Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s opposition to Trump’s decision to rescind DACA. He was dismissive of Dolan’s view and that of the Catholic leadership. “They’re just another guy with an opinion,” he said.

Well, Bannon appears to be approaching exactly that same status. He’s becoming just some guy with an opinion. He has a website that preaches to the choir, and he has some marginalized followers. But I don’t believe Bannon is particularly influential with the president or the people surrounding him. He doesn’t have any reach or influence within the leadership of the Republican Party.

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Bannon had his chance to be a leader and make a difference. However, there is plenty of evidence that all he did was alienate colleagues and contribute to a poisonous and unproductive atmosphere at a time when the president’s popularity plummeted and the White House suffered one disappointment after another.