I sent this reply to the original poster who pm'd me, figured I would share my technic with the group.
You will be fine with a light polish on your paint, I would buy a porter cable random orbit sander (model 7336) from lowes and probably use Optimum polish with a white polishing pad. If blemishes remain I would take one of three options, polish the same area again with the same polish and pad, switch to an orange pad with the same polish, or try optimum compound with a white polishing pad. Optimum is not the very best of polishes but is very easy to use for a newbie. It is finding the right combination of agressiveness of polish and cutting power of pad that takes some experimenting. Using the above combos gives you a guide and will be gentle on your paint.
The key to polishing is going slow. You will want to do like 2x2 sections overlapping the previous pass of the buffer each time. Start with a mist of water on the pad and 3 little dots of polish (it does not take much, the more you apply the longer you will have to work it into the paint). Set the polisher on 3 and set it on your paint, THEN TURN IT ON, never turn the polisher on or off while not in contact with the car. You can splatter polish and also run the risk of havng a pad fly off. After spreading the polish on speed 3 turn up the polisher to 5 or 6, go right left over the entire section and then up down (do this about 3 or 4 times, until polish breaks down). Move the polisher only about 1 inch per second and put enough pressure on the machine so that it is almost ready to bog. Always lay the machine on the paint flat and do not use the edges, you will only accomplish destroying your pads if you try to use the edges. Keep polishing until the polish "breaks down" (basically almost disappears) and wipe off with a microfiber towel. Only use microfiber towels from this point as even cotton or wool will put very fine marks in the paint (only visable to anal people like me). I use microfiber for washing, polishing and drying, it avoids creating annoying micromarring. I never let anyone wash my truck but me, just don't trust em.
A washing technic is to use 2 buckets, 1 with wash and water and another with just water (always use a proper car wash, dish soap will remove wax, I actually use Dawn dish soap when I want to strip a car down to bare paint before polishing, you might want to try this). Dip your wash cloth in the soap and water and do a section of the car, then place it in the bucket of plain water to risnse. You will find that when you are done the bucket of wash and water is clean, hence you have not been grinding the dirt into your paint the whole time.
Hope this helps
