Instead of SOTR being another book about propaganda (and definitely the worst book about it the the series), I think it should have been about class consciousness.
In D12, there's a strong sense of community, but even so, there is a clear class divide. Relative to the seam, town people are richer, and likely have better access to basic necessities. Their work is safer, too. The kids there likely only take out 1 possibly 2 tesserae, if any at all.
In comparison, people from the seam are miners. They live in small, derelict houses around the area of the town, closer to the mine. They have no choice but to become miners, a job with a high casualty rate and doesn't pay well at all. The children take out far more tesserae (e.g. Gale with 5). They are far more likely to lose family members. Whether it's starvation, or mine accidents, or being reaped.
This goes into headcannon territory a bit, but I imagine that a lot of resentment would have built up in the seam to the town. When the first quell was announced, people had to pick sides. It likely became the seam vs the town, and since the seam is so much larger, the tributes would have been from the town.
The second quell would have brought up memories from the past, especially considering that the people who would have had to vote probably have family that are in the reaping for this one. This'll have stirred up conflict again, and could have given Haymitch and Maysilee's alliance a really interesting quality, and actually give the book something decent to work with.
