Engine speed oscillating/bucking at low RPM?

I am having a strange problem lately and am wondering what to look for to diagnose and solve the problem. I have not heard much about this before.

When I get going at about 1" of pedal position in almost any gear and hold steady at about 1600 RPM, the engine speed fluctuates, like the car is accellerating and decelerating back and forth. This reminds me of the "shudder" we had before, but not at idle.

I am thinking air fluctuation or fuel fluctuation or maybe a bad spot in the drive by wire sending unit (pedal), but my VAG-COM (ISO) has been cutting out lately when I use it (I need to flash the cluster per recall?)

This is a 2000 VE A4 TDI Jetta. Any thoughts or similar experiences? What should I ckeck or look at?

TIA guys...

I hate to always say this but "Start with the MAF connection." Before I fixed my MAF connection my car would act like it was going to stall as I let the clutch out then catch and jerk ahead.

Cage,

Your suggestion made a lot of sense, so I pulled the harness and checked the connections, which seemed OK. Lately I have been getting the implausible signal error from the MAF, so I think that has something to do with it. I still have the problem, but I have some dielectric grease somewhere I can use to ensure a good connection. If it's still an issue I guess I could try a new MAF and test.

Thanks!

[edit] Unplugged the MAF connector and its slow, but smooth. Right on Cage man! I need to clean or replace the MAF!