Oct 2 (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain discussed possible picks for Treasury secretary in an interview with Reuters on Thursday that also touched on his policy plans for trade, the dollar and climate change.

Here is a sample of what he said on various issues, partially in question & answer format:

TREASURY SEC. HENRY PAULSON

"I think he's had a very tough job and we've disagreed in some areas, but overall I appreciate his efforts and if it gets through the House of Representatives, then he will deserve significant credit for having worked so hard."

Q: Would McCain consider holding on to Paulson in his administration?

A: "Those decisions would be made at the time and what the economic situation is at the time, what talents are needed at Treasury. So I wouldn't want to predict that."

FED CHAIR BEN BERNANKE

"Well I think he's worked very hard, I think again a lot of it depends on how all this turns out. ... Success or failure is a criteria that obviously many of us judge an individual by and so we'll just have to wait and see. But I have great respect for him."

FINANCIAL CRISIS AND CAMPAIGN PROMISES

"I still believe that keeping taxes low, stimulating and making sure that our economy grows, getting spending under control, same fundamentals exist that I have had before, and so no, I would not change my proposals. It's going to be a growing economy that gets us out of this ditch we're in."

Q: But does the financial crisis now, which will require a lot of money, change the scenario at all? Barack Obama said in your debate that he would probably not be able to follow through on all of his proposals. What about yours?

A: "If I had proposed $860 billion in new spending, I might be tempted to say that as well. No. In fact, my whole effort has been to bring spending under control. His is to increase spending astronomically."

BALANCING THE BUDGET

"We can balance it by 2013 if we get our economy going again and don't take measures which will harm our economy from coming back. I believe that our best days are ahead of us. We can balance the budget, we can. It depends on whether we have the will to do so or not and restraint of spending is a huge aspect of this."

THE DOLLAR & INTERVENTION

"The first step that has to be taken is obviously we have to stop mortgaging our economy to China ... and asking them to finance our debt. And that I think would have the most salutary effect in the short term. But I can't give you all the hypotheticals that would go into an 'intervention' and what that intervention would be."

Q: Would a McCain administration take more action for a stronger dollar than the Bush administration has?

A: "I would certainly do everything I can, and the best action would be eliminate our dependence on foreign oil, keep taxes low, make sure that we rein in spending so that we're not running up massive debts that are held by other countries including China. So in that way, certainly."

TRADE & THE DOHA ROUND

"We need to give it great urgency. And I think that closer relations with some of those countries, better negotiations and pointing out the common goal that the benefits to everybody of Doha succeeding, reining in some of the protectionist sentiments that they and we in certain sectors of our economy have. And at the same time move forward with separate free trade agreements if necessary, including one with the European Union, including pushing for ratification of the Colombian free trade agreement, to looking forward to a hemispheric free trade agreement between the United States and ... other nations in our hemisphere. But, so it's got to be kind of two-tracked. You urge progress in Doha, but at the same time you move forward with free trade agreements ... so you're not entirely dependent on them."

CLIMATE CHANGE AND AL GORE

"I would be very active because I do believe our planet is threatened. I also believe that without India and China, it will be very difficult to convince other nations, but most importantly they are the world's two of the largest growing economies and without their involvement, we're not going to be able to achieve success in reducing greenhouse gas emissions."

Q: Would you tap Al Gore at all?

A: "Oh yeah, I would tap the best minds in America. I would tap him, I would tap people who have been involved in these issues for many years, but I mean, frankly, I have great respect for Al Gore. Now he and I have some specific disagreements, especially on nuclear power."

POLLS AND A SECOND TERM

"You just put one foot ahead of the other. I'm pleased with our campaign, I always relish the underdog status. And you know given the overall situation, I'm very pleased where we are as we enter the last month of the campaign."

Q: Would you run for a second term if you won a first one?

A: "That's something that every president doesn't consider until after the appropriate time."

(Reporting by Jeff Mason, editing by Patricia Zengerle)

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