John McCain has moved out to a two-point lead over Barack Obama according to a new Zogby Poll, with a significant improvement coming for Sen. McCain following his announcement yesterday that he was suspending his campaign and returning to Washington, D.C. to help iron out a rescue plan for America's financial system.

Republican John McCain's poll numbers improved slightly as he suspended his campaign Wednesday to head back to Washington to focus on the looming national financial crisis, moving from more than three points behind Barack Obama last weekend to two points ahead in a Zogby Interactive survey just out of the field this morning.

What is still unknown is what will happen to the first presidential debate in Mississippi, which had been set for Friday evening but which has been put on hold by the McCain campaign. The sponsor of the debate and the Obama campaign insist the debate will go on.

Both surveys of likely voters nationwide were conducted using Zogby's online polling technology, which has proven accurate in national and statewide races dating back to 2004.

McCain now leads Obama, 45.8% to 43.8%, the survey shows.

The Horserace	Sept. 23/25	Sept. 19/20
Obama	43.8%	46.8%
McCain	45.8%	43.4%
Not sure/Other	10.4%	8.8%

The big shift in the race appears to have come among independent voters, where McCain now leads by nine points, 43% to 34%. In the survey conducted over the weekend, Obama led by one point among independents.

Both candidates have a sturdy grip on their political bases, the survey shows. McCain and Obama each win 88% support from voters in their respective political parties.

Among men, McCain leads by a 53% to 35% margin, up 15 points from the weekend survey. Among women, Obama leads by a 52% to 39% margin, up 5 points from the weekend survey.

The survey, half conducted before McCain's announcement Wednesday that he would suspend his campaign to concentrate on the financial crisis and half conducted after the announcement, shows movement in McCain's favor after his announcement. Before the announcement - which included about half of the total polling sample - Obama led by one point. But McCain led by 5 points in polling completed after his statement about the suspension of his campaign. Overall, the interactive survey, conducted Sept. 23-25, 2008, included 4,752 likely voters nationwide and carries a margin of error of +/- 1.5 percentage points.