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Reporters will be watching for many things at Wednesday night鈥檚 debate.听But, hands down, the most eagerly anticipated element has got to be: Mitt Romney鈥檚 zingers.

You see, recently, a Romney aide that the candidate was busy preparing 鈥渮ingers鈥� for his debate against President Obama.

Since then, the anticipation (and, yes, the mockery) has gone into overdrive.

鈥淶ingers. Because Americans need to know that their leader has a well-honed sense of zing,鈥� deadpanned Stephen Colbert on Tuesday night鈥檚 鈥�Colbert Report.鈥� 鈥淥n Day 1, our new president must be able to face Iran鈥檚 leader 鈥� and ask him if the place where he bought that shirt also has a men鈥檚 department.鈥�

In The Washington Post, columnist Alexandra Petri : "Does anyone else have this vivid image of Mitt Romney in a bunker carefully committing schoolyard taunts to memory?"

The challenge, of course, is that Mr. Romney has not exactly shown himself to be a zinger-ish kind of guy. So far, his most memorable lines from the campaign trail have all tended to fall more in the 鈥済affe鈥� category. Like his recorded remarks about the 47 percent. Or his spontaneous offer of a $10,000 bet to Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R).听

In The New Yorker, Nathaniel Stein 聽Romney鈥檚 debate preparations:

ROMNEY: I have some ideas for more zingers. How about, 鈥淚 hate being able to fire people!鈥�

AIDE: Hmm ... I like it, but I鈥檓 not quite sure if that鈥檚 right for the debate.

ROMNEY: No, you misheard me. 鈥淚 hate being able to fire people.鈥�

AIDE: No, I heard, but 鈥�

ROMNEY: O.K., here鈥檚 another. 鈥淵ou know what I just can鈥檛 get enough of? The forty-seven per cent of Americans who are blood-sucking victims. That鈥檚 the America I love.鈥�

AIDE: Maybe we should stick to the list.

The truth is that Romney really could benefit from a good, well, zinger. He鈥檚 down in the polls 鈥� though not by a lot 鈥� so a debate win could go a long way toward helping him close the gap. And even more than a win, he could use one memorable 鈥渕oment鈥� (another overused word) that draws a big crowd reaction and sticks in voters鈥� minds.听

The problem, however, is that zingers are inherently risky. If they鈥檙e too transparently cooked up, or badly delivered, they鈥檒l fall flat. Which would definitely be worse than no zinger at all.

Romney is capable of being funny. In recent remarks at the Clinton Global Initiative, after being introduced by former President Clinton, he drew genuine laughs when he said: "If there's one thing we've learned this election season, it's that a few words from Bill Clinton can do any man a lot of good. After that introduction, I guess all I have to do is wait a day or two for the bounce."

He also can deliver a forceful retort. During one GOP primary debate, when Governor Perry declared that former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis created jobs three times faster than Romney, Romney came back with: 鈥淲ell, as a matter of fact, George W. Bush and his predecessor created jobs at a faster rate than you did, governor.鈥� At another debate, he delivered a punchy attack on former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, over his support for earmarks: 鈥淲hile I was fighting to save the Olympics, you were fighting to save the bridge to nowhere.鈥�

To some extent, we鈥檝e begun wondering if all the discussion of zingers has made it almost impossible for any candidate to produce a good one. At this point, even the famous historic debate zingers 鈥� 鈥淚'm paying for this microphone,鈥� 鈥淵ou鈥檙e no Jack Kennedy,鈥� 鈥淲here鈥檚 the beef?鈥� 鈥� have been replayed so many times that they鈥檝e become clich茅d.

So, the anticipation continues to build. Will Romney be able to deliver? Will his zingers be funny? Sarcastic? Painfully awkward?

Or will he, at this point, decide that he can鈥檛 possibly live up to all the hype 鈥� and forgo zingers altogether? It would probably be the safer option. The press corps, however, would be sorely disappointed.