A permission slip...or just a dumb joke?

Hillary Clinton on Friday:

You can vote for or against any candidate based on anything -- and we do that in America. You know, you don't like...oh say, somebody's hairstyle. It's whatever you choose.

You know, I'm just not sure what Clinton meant. It sort of sounds like a permission slip to vote based on someone's appearance (dogwhistle, anyone?), but then she immediately says:

This is too important an election, and we have to know exactly where people stand.  Not what somebody says, but what they've done. ... That's why I want you to approach this like a hiring decision.

That seems to suggest it was just a dumb joke, easily subject to misinterpretation.

Whatever she actually meant, though, it is pretty obvious that she doesn't care if she gives off the wrong impression. Who knows -- I suspect some of her supporters like that about her.

What do you think?