Over tea at the Corner Bistro in Haddonfield last week, Reena Schaeffer and Leah Furey discovered that their thoughtful views on presidential candidates - the gut feelings and well-reasoned policy positions they had hashed out before even deciding on the menu - would have a very concrete outlet.

And soon.

"It's next Tuesday?" said Schaeffer, 32, a pathologist-turned-stay-at-home-mom, spooning organic baby food to 8-month-old Jaxon. "Wow. That came out of nowhere."

Suddenly, with their primary moved from June to February, New Jersey voters are in the mix of Super Tuesday. And if conversations with a range of voters are a guide, they have a lot of weighty presidential matters on their minds (along with, naturally, Gov. Corzine's plan to hike tolls).

They talked about health care and immigration and Iraq, sure, but more ephemeral and puzzling presidential matters also came up repeatedly, such as restoring America's image in the world, defining the nature of leadership and the American character, and breaking the bonds of contentious partisan politics.

For some, including undecided Republican Jane Rapone of Cherry Hill, the outlook is depressing. "It doesn't really matter that much," she said. "I'm 54 years old. I haven't seen much change from one president to the next."

For others, like Larry Miles, 73, owner of La Unique bookstore in Camden and a supporter of Sen. Barack Obama, Tuesday represents an exciting opportunity. "I'm all hepped up," he said. "The time is now."

Here, then, are snapshots of New Jersey voters.

Feelings from the gut

She said she could list issues she's concerned about - "the typical child care, health care, education," she said - but really, it's more from the gut. "I'm just a fan of hers," she said in the Wegmans parking lot. "And she has Bill as her right-hand guy. Everyone has someone they lean on."

Jacquay Robinson, 30, a sanitation worker in Atlantic City who works a second job driving a casino shuttle, said he, too, was reassured by Bill Clinton. "What she doesn't know, he will," Robinson said.

Robinson, who is black, said Obama's race was not a factor. "I think she's for all of us," he said. "When her husband was in office, everything was running smoothly."

He works two jobs to take care of his family, and feels strongly about bringing the soldiers home. "They have families out here they need to take care of, too," he said.

This being Jersey, though, the discussion about Iraq and health care led to one about home and highway. "Corzine, get him out of there," Robinson said. "He wants to raise tolls." (No word on presidential toll views.)

Health care, taxes, hope

Worse, his private plan doesn't pick up some costs, like the $50,000 he and his wife spent four years ago conceiving his first daughter.

He has watched his taxes climb as the value of the house he built three years ago in Mansfield declines. Still, Noble is voting based on intangibles, like Obama's message of hope. "When he speaks, people listen to him. I listen to him, and I'm inspired."

With two children in college and already $80,000 in debt from pursuing a master's degree, Daina Wallace, 38, of Sicklerville, a telemetry supervisor at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, said the economy and health care were paramount.

An African American woman with three sons, she said she was torn between Clinton and Obama. Though she feels her culture defines her more than her gender, she said, "I'll probably do Hillary. She has a husband to help her."

As for her own husband: "He doesn't believe in a woman being president. He thinks we should all vote for Barack."

Immigration concerns

His vote will be based on one issue: immigration.

Riverside made national headlines in 2006 for passing a law to penalize employers and landlords for hiring or housing illegal immigrants. The law was repealed, but many immigrants took their money and left town.

Hagan cares less about immigrants leaving than with how they got here and what they do afterward. Romney, he said, is the only candidate opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants and planning to secure borders and create an employee verification system.

Hagan said his livelihood hung in the balance. Some employers, he said, win contracts by submitting cheaper bids because they don't buy workers' compensation for illegal employees. "It's just not fair to the people who pay taxes and do it the right way," he said.

Felix Taveras also sees lots of immigrants, legal and illegal, in his business. He runs Latino Tax, a tax-preparation firm in Atlantic City, and up to 60 percent of his clients are illegal immigrants. He urges them to pay taxes to help them gain legal status.

Taveras is putting together a Latinos for Clinton group. "I like Obama, but I'm afraid McCain would win the election," said Taveras, 45. "Hillary, wherever she goes, she has a name, prestige. We as Americans, we have a very bad reputation. We need somebody to build that trust."

War and peace

McCain, she said, would run a good war and not forget his fellow veterans. But she's worried he may take too long to bring the soldiers home: "It's been going on long enough."

She likes McCain's experience, but worries about his age, 71. "That job ages you pretty quickly," she said.

Bipartisan sentiments

"Politics is really weird. You can have the best idea in the world, and if you're a Democrat and I'm a Republican, we can't come together."

New definitions

For one thing, he's 46, the same as Obama, demographically the bottom rung of the baby boomers, the age of many who are kid siblings of the more idealistic older boomers. "Who did we have - Reagan, Mondale, Carter? And in the last 20 years, we've had two families run this country," he said.

To McDevitt, Obama, with his complicated racial and geographic background, represented a new way of defining this country. "We all sort of share some of his experience," he said. "In my heart, I think he's the most genuinely American candidate."

Back in Haddonfield, with polls suggesting that New Jersey voters favor Clinton and McCain, Schaeffer and Furey talked about Americans' standing in the world. "I have a lot of family in India, and they say, 'Your president is such a clown,' " Schaeffer said.

Said Furey, a city planner: "We need to let our real values be known." Both favor Obama, but whoever wins, Furey said, "we're not going to have drastic change right away."

Schaeffer's husband, like a lot of guys, plans to vote for McCain. Furey's fiance, an avid hunter, also leans Republican. "Some issues we shouldn't make national decisions on," Furey said.

"My husband and I don't talk about politics," said Schaeffer. "It's like a joke in our house. We've gotten so much mail from John McCain - look, another e-mail from John McCain."

New Jersey Primary Facts

Who can vote: Registered Democrats and Republicans may vote in their party races. People who are registered but unaffiliated must choose a party at the polls.

Poll times: Polls will be open Tuesday from 6 a.m.

to 8 p.m.

What's at stake: The winner of the Republican primary will receive all of the party's 52 delegates. Of the state's 127 Democratic delegates, 70 will be distributed based on the candidates' shares of the vote. The state party selects most of the rest. Delegates cast their votes at each party's convention in the summer.

Problems at the polls: The U.S. Attorney's Office has set up a hotline at 973-645-2924 for reports of election irregularities, voter intimidation, or any other activities that would interfere with a citizen's right to vote.

For more information: Visit www.nj.gov/oag/elections/

electionshome.html.

- Associated Press