MAF Issue I think?

This is one for the electrical gurus, i've got a '96 4.6 GEMS and yesterday after i'd driven a couple of lanes near me it started missing and losing power for a second and then surging. My first thought was it got a bit wet (there was alot of standing water) kept driving to see if it would clear, it didn't, it got worse.
So I stopped at the side of the road & the idle was all over the place, after some unhelpful tinkering i unplugged the MAF and it ran the same so I plugged it back in & suddenly everything was fine.

This morning it started again but not as bad so i took the MAF out & gave it a good spray with contact cleaner & cleaned the intake with brake cleaner but its still a bit lumpy.
What i have discovered though is that if i start the engine with the MAF unplugged and then plug it in its fine.

So after the long descrption of the problem my question is: as i think its the MAF thats shot will running it without, just for a day or 2, will it cause lean running or damage until i can get another maf?

hi , take the maf off and get yourself a couple of cotton bud sticks and some nail polish remover and look down the opening and you will see two very thin strips of metal sensors give them a good brushing with the soked cotton bud sticks all around and top to bottom then let them dry and evorate the solvent ,then refit and run the engine for awhile and then go for a spin and give it some power and see if this makes any difference ,if not i suggest you get another maf ... this worked perfectly for me and has run great ever since ..cheers mozz