Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin sounded pessimistic about a second term for President Barack Obama even before the presidential election results were finalized.

“Unfortunately, we know what we will get with four more years of President Obama,” the former Alaska governor told Fox News’s Greta Van Susteren Tuesday night. “This really is a catastrophic set-back to our economy and to any opportunity that we would have for Supreme Court justices to be appointed who would be strict adherents to the traditional interpretation of what our Constitution says.”

While the economic challenges would be difficult for any president to overcome, Mr. Obama must work with a Republican-controlled House and Democratic-controlled Senate to fix the nation’s financial crisis. This January, a combination of tax increases and spending cuts known as the fiscal cliff will go into effect unless the president and Congress can work together to turn the nation’s economy around.

In reaction to the presidential election results, the stock market lost more than 300 points Wednesday. Wall Street’s negative reaction is likely due to anticipation of contentious talks between President Obama and Congress, as the two of the three branches of government attempt to deal with the looming fiscal crisis before the end of 2012.

“I’m crossing my fingers, Greta, and hoping things can turn around in the remaining hours of the evening,” Ms. Palin said.

To the reality TV star’s dismay, the president went on to defeat Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney with 303 electoral votes to his challenger’s 206 electoral votes.

Even as evidence mounted that Governor Romney would not win the presidency, Ms. Palin expressed the many reasons why she believed that Americans wouldn’t reelect the president to a second term in the Oval Office.

“I just cannot believe, though, that the majority of Americans would believe that incurring more debt is good for our economy, for our children’s futures, for job creators,” Ms. Palin added. “I cannot believe that the majority of Americans would believe it’s OK not to follow the Constitution and not have a budget. And I can’t believe the majority of Americans say it’s OK to rely on foreign sources of energy instead of drilling and mining our own resources.”

The Republican Party must wait until 2016 to put one of their own in the White House. Until that time, many expect the party to reevaluate and potentially revamp its image to appeal to a wider group of Americans, including women, Hispanics and youth voters.

“It’s a perplexing time for many of us right now, if things continue in this trend that we have seen earlier tonight,” Ms. Palin concluded.