textfield tag not allowing blanks

Is there some issue with not allowing blanks in the textfield tag?

...I have a search page I use to audit descriptions, eg, if I search for 
two spaces, after the submit the textfield is cleared.  I have to use 
standard html for it to reshow the spaces (ie the original search string).

<input type="text" id="foo" name="bar" value="<s:property value="bar" />" />
<s:textfield id="foo" name="bar"  />

Just checking.  Not allowing the blanks mucks up my paging/validation.