Can't select <option> - Have tried every thing

Can't select <option> - Have tried every thing

Well, this is suppose to happen in the middle of a function... long story short, this function is called in an onChange event of a <select> element.

  1. <select onchange="DDreorganizeTables(this);" name="pos">           
  2.       <option value="1">1</option>
  3.       <option value="2">2</option>
  4.       <option value="3">Last</option>
  5. </select>

This is my javascript (sorry for the mess)

take the vars:

thisCurPos = 1
thisNewPos = 3

  1. jQuery('.DDt_'+_thisCurPos+' > tbody > tr > th > select > option').removeAttr('selected');
  2. //This will deselect whichever option is selected

  4. jQuery('.DDt_'+_thisCurPos+' > tbody > tr > th > select > option[value='+_thisNewPos+']').attr('selected', 'selected');
  5. //This would SUPOSEDLY add the attribute selected to the element
The thing is, ONLY the 'selected' attr doesn't work... if I try .attr('alt', 'something') it works... the only thing that DOESN'T WORK is this... So I presume its nothing wrong with the selector but with the .attr() method

any ideas?