The subjective reality of the voter as the basis of political communication: rhetoric and microtargeting

The aim of this article is to identify the epistemic and psychological mechanisms underlying the transformation of voters' deepest political convictions in the context of digitalized political communication. The study draws on an interdisciplinary approach integrating concepts from political philosophy, rhetorical theory, epistemological methods, and political psychology. Particular attention is paid to the typology of political statements (facts, forecasts, counterfacts, values, opinions, and hopes) and their role in persuasion. The methodological basis is an expert survey of members of the Russian Association for Electoral Digital Politics, using a Likert scale to quantify key points. The results confirm the expert consensus regarding the decisive role of voters' subjective perceptions of reality (M=4.73; σ =0.46) and the fundamental influence of artificial intelligence technologies on the nature of political discourse (M=4.73; σ =0.46). The limitations of fact-checking and the dominance of value-based statements over fact-based ones are recognized. The greatest polarization of opinions is caused by the potential of digitalization in reconstructing voters' "worldviews" and the applicability of microtargeting in the Russian context. It is concluded that the integration of epistemological, rhetorical, and psychometric approaches is a promising tool for personalized political communication. The theoretical significance of this study lies in its development of an interdisciplinary approach (epistemology, rhetorical theory, and political psychology). The author proposes a typology of political narratives, differentiating them by their epistemic status (facts, forecasts, values, counterfactual), which deepens our understanding of the nature of political discourse and the mechanisms of voter persuasion. The practical significance of this study is confirmed by the results of an expert survey, as the proposed integration of rhetorical models and psychometric methods (microtargeting) opens up opportunities for developing effective personalized political communication strategies. Understanding the subjective worldview of voters allows for more accurate communication of a political campaign's program and also optimizes resources by focusing on audience segments where persuasion is most likely. Conclusions regarding the impact of AI and deepfakes (expert consensus M=4.73) provide a vector for developing new methods for verifying information in the context of increasing technological transformation.