As Hillary Clinton arrived to sign copies of her book in New York, many in the crowd of diehard fans said they just wanted to thank her. | Seth Wenig/AP Photo Hillary gets conquered hero's welcome in Manhattan 'I don’t understand the hate against her,' says one patron on hand for the vanquished 2016 candidate's book tour kickoff.

NEW YORK — What a difference 1,194 days make.

The lines snaking around the Barnes & Noble, around Union Square, were the same.


The scattered cheers of “Hillary! Hillary!” interrupted only by awkward silence were the same.

But there was no "Ready for Hillary" campaign bus parked outside this time. There were fewer protesters. And gone Tuesday was the anticipation that the next president was in the building, three years after Hillary Clinton last launched a book tour here.

“I don’t understand the hate against her. For me, it’s heartbreaking, and since Nov. 9 I’ve been just depressed, basically,” said New Yorker Corinne Pina, who was one of the first in line after arriving 15 hours before the start of the event. She was surrounded by images of Clinton on T-shirts, buttons, hats and iPhone cases.

“It feels great being around like-minded people,” added Pina, who said she had volunteered 30 hours per week for Clinton's campaign.

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Much like the opening days of her 2016 campaign, Clinton’s book kickoff came with no big speech and a relatively orderly crowd. Clinton didn’t say an audible word.

But the book signing for “What Happened” — in which the former secretary of state’s painstakingly details her shocking loss to Donald Trump — was a far cry from the June 2014 launch of “Hard Choices,” her pre-campaign offering.

Then, Clinton was the soon-to-be candidate, kicking off a tour widely seen as the prelude to a march to the White House. Also published by Simon & Schuster, that book told the story of her time as secretary of state. Her launch, packed with media, was a den of anticipation.

But now the fan-made shirts and buttons were replaced by yearold, worn-in official campaign swag, the “please run” entreaties replaced by sad, smiling “thank you”s. The campaign staffers in attendance had “former” instead of "future" in front of their titles.

Clinton is still set to embark on a nationwide book tour that will include public speeches, and her promotion of the book in the media has already begun.

She’s already starting to fend off concerns from fellow Democrats who want her to go away. She’s been trying to brush off anger from Republicans eager to unite against her, and she’s made clear to anyone who will listen: She won’t run again.

That was just fine to the crowd of die-hard fans, many of whom said they just wanted to thank her.

“I am a very passionate Hillary supporter — after 9/11 she helped me get my life back together. I’m a survivor and I was in a lot of trouble. I lost my home, and I was in the first tower,” said Pina, decked out in a black t-shirt featuring an image of Clinton under the words “Yas Queen,” complete with three buttons: “I’m With Her,” “Don’t Tell Me What To Say” and “Don’t Blame Me! I Voted For Her!”

On Monday night, Clinton sent boxes of pizza to the first few fans in line after being shown a picture of them sent to her by longtime aide Greg Hale.

And when Clinton walked in with Len Riggio, Barnes & Noble’s founder and chairman, the cheers were deafening, reminiscent of the campaign’s highest points — far from the long grind she describes in chapter after chapter of the blue-and-white book that was displayed behind her, in front of her, and all around her.

She smiled, waved, and sat, surveying the crowd. It included Juan Cuba, a 29-year-old resident of Paterson, New Jersey, who was second in line after arriving at the bookstore 19 hours earlier, desperate to meet the woman he had been voting for since 2008’s primary against Barack Obama, and to whom he had donated $10 every month. And it extended down three stories of the massive building, and outside, past a protester in an orange jumpsuit and Clinton mask, with a sign that said simply, “Trump happened.”

The press was ushered out after just 10 minutes, and Clinton took no questions, eager to make just as little news as she had in 2014. Back then, the idea of a Trump candidacy hadn’t even occurred to most of the political world.

In the end, Barnes & Noble said, Clinton sold over 1,200 books on Tuesday.

And the store’s representatives made sure to add, for the gathered reporters to hear: That was more than last time.