cannot set "selected"="selected" via attr() on <option> elements?

cannot set "selected"="selected" via attr() on <option> elements?

this is a continuation/split off of
http://forum.jquery.com/topic/clone-true-not-copying-select-data-if-not-explicitly-set-by-selected-attribute

is this attr() magic at work?....cause $("div").attr("selected","selected") does work.

the primary purpose of my needing to do it is for cloning, making .val() not a viable alternative cause cloneNode doesn't copy over the selectedIndex property. (the testcase is in the original thread)

i could not think of any workaround using jQuery.

thanks,
Leon