pologuy- Heh heh, I believe you might be overthinking this (and how often do I say *that* :eek ). How many steps is just how many steps.
One-step with an AIO? Polish-then-wax for two steps? Compound-then-polish-then-wax for three?...you get the idea. Consider a job where you have wetsanding, then compounding, then polishing, then burnishing, then some gloss-enhancing glaze, then a sealant, then a wax topper
Sounds crazy perhaps, but people here do stuff like that upon occasion.
IMO if a vehicle has marring that's as obvious as what you're describing then it needs polished to the point where the marring is "sufficiently corrected", whatever that means to *you* (as it's only your opinion that really counts).
Maybe you can clear it up to your satisfaction with just one polishing step, maybe you can't
I'd plan on doing quite a bit to paint in that condition, but that's just me.