WASHINGTON – Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann is acknowledging “misspeaking” occasionally, including wrongly claiming that actor John Wayne was from her Waterloo, Iowa, hometown, but says she’s “a substantive, serious person” who would be a good president.

Bachman, who announced her candidacy on Monday, flubbed her hometown history in a weekend interview in which she declared “John Wayne was from Waterloo” and “that’s the kind of spirit that I have, too.”

The actor was born nearly 150 miles away. It was the serial killer John Wayne Gacy Jr. who lived, for a time, in Waterloo.

The GOP congresswoman told CNN today her comments “were just misspeaking” and that her main intent was to show she identified with Wayne’s patriotism.

“I wish I could be perfect,” Bachmann said. “I’m a substantive, serious person” who has “good sense on how to turn the economy around” as president.