I've set some hidden input variables to help users search through a very dense page.  If I hard code a string such as CHI it works, but if I pass CHI in as a variable it won't work. 

Interestingly, I've not had issues doing this when I am passing in a variablel and trying to selection with an ID versus attribute selector.

Examples of what works:


A) hardcode selector by attribute:       var targetOffset = $("input[value='CHI']").next().offset().top;
B)  variable passed to selector by id:   $.post(url, $("#"+formName).serialize(),function(data){


What I've tried to get selector by attribute with variables (all don't work):
A) var targetOffset = $("input[value="+str+"]").next().offset().top;
B) var targetOffset = $("input[value='"+str+"']").next().offset().top;
C) about a million variations of this where I take everything and try to put it into a variable --> var targetOffset = $(str).next().offset().top;