SLUMPING BUSH HEADS SOUTH

President Bush, packing the lowest approval ratings of his administration, headed south Dec. 3 in an effort to pump up public confidence in the ailing economy as well as in himself.Bush was to discuss the economy and his vigorous yet murky vows to remedy it during addresses to employees at the Tropicana Products Inc., in Bradenton, Fla., and the Peavey Electronics in Meridian, Miss. A CNN-Time Magazine poll released Dec. 1 showed that only one in five Americans think that the president is doing a good job handling the economy. The president's scheduled stops are the latest in a series of highly political trips he has made in recent weeks, during which he has blamed the Democratic-controlled Congress for the economic hard times and for his own domestic failures. He has also held a series of meetings with business leaders about the economy.