| Both were incapable of disengaging from political wheeling and dealing when it mattered. |
| Kerry's convictions, whatever they may have been, mattered far less than his ability to beat Bush. |
| I was getting ready for that important meeting that was weighing on my mind but it no longer mattered. |
| He lifted her up carefully, realizing that he had picked her up so many times that it hardly even mattered to either him or her anymore. |
| That might not have mattered, except that they kept me waiting for about 20 minutes. |
| Wexford got two goal chances and put them away and at the end they were the scores that mattered. |
