When I handle HTML form elements with jQuery, I always end up with an ugly mix of jQuery syntax and plain JavaScript like, e.g.:

function doStuff($combo){
    if( $combo.get(0).options[$combo.get(0).selectedIndex].value=="" ){
        var txt = "";
    }else{
        var txt = $combo.get(0).options[$combo.get(0).selectedIndex].text;
    }
    var $description = $combo.closest("div.item").find("input[name$=\[description\]]");
    $description.val(txt);
}

Are there standard jQuery methods to handle typical operations on elements like <select>, <input type="radio"> and <input type="checkbox">?

With typical, I mean stuff like reading the value of the selected radio button in a group or replacing elements in a selection list. I haven't found them in the documentation but I admit that method overloading can make doc browser kind of tricky.