Battling to unseat powerful Democrat and incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley from his seat in New York's 14th Congressional District in next week's primary, progressive challenger Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday issued a rousing challenge to her party—and its wouldbe voters—as she offered a critique of the status quo and explained why it is time for constituents to demand more and better from their elected leaders.

With less than a week to go, Ocasio-Cortez has an uphill battle in New York's closed Democratic primary against Crowley, a veteran member of Congress who has climbed the ranks of the Democrat's House leadership.

But on Friday, she had a few things to say about the campaign she is running and where she believes the party needs to be heading.

She started by saying, "We need to talk about the future of the Democratic Party." And then it went like this: