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Damon Jackson, 39, (right) and Abby Rodewald, 17, at a debate watch party hosted by the Des Moines Young Professionals Connection on Wednesday.Credit Scott Morgan for The New York Times

DES MOINES — Carly Fiorina hit a walk-off homer, helium is leaking from Ben Carson’s balloon and Scott Walker’s candidacy is on life support, according to the Republicans in Iowa who will cast the first votes of the nominating contest in less than five months.

Oh, and Donald J. Trump is still Donald J. Trump — what did you expect?

A sampling of a dozen Iowans on Thursday who watched the second Republican debate — all of them close followers of the presidential race who are uncommitted — did not vary from the emerging national consensus about Mrs. Fiorina’s performance.

Perhaps the most surprising reaction was a feeling that Mr. Carson, who was on the heels of Mr. Trump in recent Iowa polls, did himself few favors on Wednesday by refusing to confront Mr. Trump, even on a medical issue like the purported link between vaccines and autism.

“Carson’s demeanor is beginning to make him look weak,” said Mary Whisenand, an insurance executive in Des Moines. “It isn’t that I think every presidential candidate needs to get out there and do hellfire and brimstone, but the optics are starting to work against him.”

Continue reading the main story Graphic Trump Remains Center Stage at 2nd G.O.P. Debate Prompts from the moderators and new combativeness from the other candidates ensured that Donald J. Trump once again led in airtime.

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Others said Mr. Carson’s responses on policy issues, particularly national security, sounded mushy. John Wills, an Army veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said that Mr. Carson was someone he had considered campaigning for. But no longer. He criticized Mr. Carson for his response to the question of what he would have done after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. “There are smart ways to do things and there are muscular ways to do things,” Mr. Carson said.

“I don’t know what that means,” said Mr. Wills, who was elected last year to the Iowa House in District 1, in the conservative northwest corner of the state. “If somebody attacks us and we respond by saying we’re going to use smart power, we put ourselves into a position of being not understood and taken seriously.”

Mark A. Hanson, a supervisor for Dallas County, watched the debate with 100 supporters of Mr. Trump at a barbecue restaurant in West Des Moines. A Republican activist, Mr. Hanson said the Trump crowd seemed largely new to politics, and he wondered if many would show up to caucus in February, a typically low-turnout event that draws party stalwarts. Interest in watching the debate, he said, faded after 20 minutes. “At the very beginning there was interest, but as the night went on they became very disinterested,” he said.

Tim Recker, a farmer in northeast Iowa, said he had been “really liking Trump.” But on Thursday he was questioning if Mr. Trump’s trade policies, including suggestions of raising tariffs on imported goods, would hurt agriculture exports.

“He made a comment about, We’re taking their stuff and giving beef back and they don’t even want it,” Mr. Recker said. “That’s not true. They love our beef.”

Mr. Recker, who farms 1,600 acres of corn and soybeans in Arlington, close to the border with Wisconsin, said that Mr. Walker, the Wisconsin governor who once led Iowa polls but was in 10th place in a Quinnipiac University survey last week, left him feeling indifferent.

Mr. Walker had less speaking time in the CNN debate than any of the other 10 candidates. On a call with donors on Thursday, his campaign manager complained that CNN had asked Mr. Walker only a few questions, and Mr. Walker himself told donors he would now focus almost exclusively on Iowa, continuing his tour of all 99 counties.

In Lyon County in the northwest, Mr. Wills predicted that Mr. Walker could have a comeback.

“Trump is stealing the oxygen right now and that oxygen has depleted out of Walker, but people are willing to go back to Walker, I believe,” Mr. Wills said.

Like voters elsewhere, Iowans were impressed with Mrs. Fiorina’s icy comment to Mr. Trump about his criticism of her appearance. “I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said,” Mrs. Fiorina said when asked about Mr. Trump’s attempt to walk back a remark that no one would vote for her because of her looks.

“She hit it out of the park,” said C. Edward Brown, chief executive of the Iowa Clinic in Des Moines.

He added: “There’s going to be a lot more women paying attention to this lady, and consequently their husbands will too.”

Phil Cavanaugh, a conservative whose favored candidates are Senator Ted Cruz, Mr. Carson and Mr. Trump, said he was disappointed when candidates, at the urging of moderators, attacked one another. “Notice that Ted Cruz and Ben Carson never did that,” he said. “They went ahead and said, This is what we need to do on the issues.”

Mr. Cruz, who was third in recent Iowa polls behind Mr. Trump and Mr. Carson, “had a good night,” Mr. Cavanaugh said. “He’s not mentioned as much in the media even though he’s ahead of Carly. I think he’s a stronger, better candidate. Time will tell.”

Jeb Bush, whose campaign once hoped to compete for business-oriented Republicans in Iowa but has recently put more of his energy into New Hampshire, did not seem to make a strong enough impression to sway Iowans.

Mike McInerney, president of the Bull Moose Club in Des Moines, a political group for young Republican professionals, said Mr. Bush’s failure to get an apology from Mr. Trump for comments about Mr. Bush’s wife was telling. Mr. McInerney, an insurance agent, recalled a maxim of trial lawyers that you never ask a question without knowing how a witness will respond.

“He asked for a favor without knowing what the answer was going to be, and it got thrown back in his face,” Mr. McInerney said. “He didn’t corner him to the point where Donald Trump has no out.”

At Iowa State University in Ames, four roommates who watched the debate agreed that Senator Marco Rubio was the winner. “He seemed not to focus on much of his past record but seemed to outline, This is my plan, this is what we should be doing,” said Evan Monson, a junior from Humboldt, Iowa.

Another competitor in Mr. Bush’s lane of establishment Republicans, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, also made strong impressions with Iowans.

Once a regular visitor to Iowa, Mr. Christie has recently dropped in polls there and has put most of his energy into New Hampshire. But he may want to consider calling his travel agent.

“I liked his chiding of Trump and Fiorina for being childish going back and forth,” Ms. Whisenand said.

Mr. Brown, an influential business figure in Des Moines, said he had never been more than lukewarm about Mr. Christie before the debate, but said he came across better than expected.

“I think he basically pushed open a crack in the door for people to listen to him more,” Mr. Brown said.

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